Parents and Teachers Working Together to Feed Kids

Parents and Teachers Working Together to Feed Kids

PTO Feature Image
Rock-Solid PTO Summit

Feed the Kids in your own Backyard!

Volunteer with Blessings in a Backpack to provide hunger-free weekends for the kids in your community.

Childhood hunger exists in every zip code in the United States; more than 9 million children are food insecure. That’s ONE in EIGHT kids who eat meals at school during the week without affordable, healthy food on Saturday and Sunday. The consequences are much more than a growling stomach. Hunger can cause many physical health problems, shorten a child’s attention span, lower their IQ, and keep them from making good grades.

Who will feed the kids this weekend? You will!

Based on your PTO’s interests and the need at your school, Blessings in a Backpack offers many ways to get involved to prevent weekend hunger. They include:

  • Hosting a food drive in support of a local Blessings in a Backpack program.
  • Starting a Blessings in a Backpack program to feed students at your school.
  • Raising money to feed kids at an active Blessings in a Backpack program location.
  • Using our “Love is a Verb” lesson plan to teach kids about childhood hunger and how they can give back. (This is also a great activity for scouts!)
Register To Volunteer With Blessings
Learn How You Can Get Involved

ABOUT THE PTO SUMMIT: Blessings in a Backpack CEO Erin Kerr will speak at the virtual PTO Summit on Friday, May 19! She will discuss “Ending the Weekend Hunger Gap in Your Community.”

This content is so valuable – especially for PTOs who have tried to get out of the volunteering for hours loop and found themselves stuck or they’re new to the PTO and don’t know where to start. Moving forward by knowing what you don’t know – and that’s where the Rock-Solid PTO Summit comes in handy!

Volunteer Options

Ways to Get Involved

Option 1

Host a Food Drive

  • We will provide you with all the tools necessary to connect with a local Blessings program, school, or community center that could benefit from your support.
  • Teach your students and their families about the food-insecurity issues in your community.
  • Organize a food drive, pack the food into bags, and deliver the bags to feed kids on the weekends. You can even write inspirational note cards to go in the bags.
New York Kid Volunteers
Option 2

Feed Kids on the Weekends

Start a Blessings in a Backpack program at your school OR sponsor a program at a nearby school or community center. A Blessings staff member will work directly with your PTO/PTA step by step to:

  1. Determine the needs in your community and identify a local school partner to be a Blessings recipient OR work with school staff to determine your school’s needs. 
  2. Raise funds to start a new program or support an existing program.
  3. Use Blessings in a Backpack’s national food solution. It can be delivered to your school.
  4. Recruit and organize a volunteer team to distribute the prepacked food each week.
SWFL volunteers
Option 3

Kids Feeding Kids!

“There’s Nothing better than kids helping kids to make our community stronger!”

Get the kids involved too! How it works:

  1. Follow steps 1–2 from above.
  2. Use Blessings in a Backpack’s national food solution to have individually packaged food delivered to your school. 
  3. Have students pack the food into bags in an assembly line fashion.
  4. An adult volunteer will transport the food to the school for distribution.
Volunteer in Louisville
Option 4

"Love Is A Verb" Lesson Plan

Your students (or scouts) will feed hearts and bellies together through the following activities: 

  • Watching videos of a Blessings in a Backpack supporters, including actress Jennifer Garner, reading the children’s storybook Maddi’s Fridge.
  • Decorating refrigerator-shaped piggy banks with stickers. (We’ll ship them to you for FREE!)
  • Setting a fundraising goal for your classroom.
  • Cutting and coloring printable note cards to donate to a local Blessings program.

Click here to preview the lesson plan.

Register To Volunteer With Blessings In A Backpack
Get Social

Show Your Impact

1. Tell your friends, family, and followers how you are supporting the Blessings in a Backpack mission and feeding kids this weekend.

Post pictures, videos, and any updates about your service activity, whether it’s hosting a food drive, starting a program, or decorating a Maddi’s Fridge piggy bank. Share how they can support the cause.

Sample social media posts:

I’m collecting food for [city’s] local #BlessingsinaBackpack program. Our goal is to collect enough food to feed XXX children this weekend!

The [school/students/friends] in [city] are feeding kids this weekend with #BlessingsinaBackpack!

Who will feed the kids this weekend? I will! As a [alum/student/friend], I’m volunteering with our local #BlessingsinaBackpack program, which provides hunger-free weekends for kids who might otherwise go hungry.

A little can go a long way when we get together and give back. This year, [I or our club/group] am/is supporting #BlessingsinBackpack to feed school-aged children who might otherwise go hungry.

2. Let's be friends! Follow Blessings in a Backpack on social media.

Click on the platform name below to connect with us on your favorite channel(s).

Instagram

@blessingsinabackpack

Facebook

@blessingsinabackpack

LinkedIn

Blessings in a Backpack

Twitter

@blessinbackpack

TikTok

@blessingsinabackpack

3. Use hashtags when you post about how you're helping feed kids on the weekends!

Use the #PTOSummit and #BlessingsinaBackpack hashtags when you post and other hashtags relevant to your club or community. 3-5 hashtags per post are the sweet spot.

Other hashtag ideas: #RockSolidPTOSummit #Blessingsina🎒

4. Tell us about your impact!

Share your volunteer experience and the impact made in your community by emailing Paige at paigef@blessingsinabackpack.org.  We will share the results on our social media and website!

Feed The Kids In Your Own Backyard!

Complete the Registration Form Below to Volunteer With Blessings

    Required fields are marked with a red *








    [group piggybank]

    [/group]

    Take Me Back To The Volunteer Activities
    Tips For Posting On Social Media