Assistance League of the Eastside donated 60 backpacks of food for the Pantry Packs program to help feed students in need at a local Redmond junior high school.
When kids don’t get enough to eat, they can’t concentrate and they can’t learn. Teachers tell stories of kids excited to be at school on Mondays because they can eat there through federal programs. But these same children, in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD), often go hungry on weekends, or during school breaks.
Hopelink’s Pantry Packs program provides weekend packs of food for more than 600 LWSD students who are identified as being “food insecure.” With community donations of kid-friendly food and funds, 40-50 volunteers come together each month to “pack the packs” at Hopelink’s Kirkland/Northshore warehouse. Volunteer drivers then deliver the packs to schools where the packs get into the hands of hungry children.
Throughout the school year, Pantry Packs demonstrates how volunteers, schools and the community work together to help children in our area.
