Nichelle Hilton first heard the term “weekend hunger” in 2014. The phrase describes children in America who receive free meals at school but go hungry on weekends due to their families’ limited incomes.
Eleven years later, she saw a video about weekend hunger. In it, a child is asked if hunger made studying hard. Her reply: “It’s not that I’m hungry. It’s that I picture my teacher as a banana.”
At the time, Hilton ran the Central Area Food Bank in Seattle. She asked a local school if any students experienced weekend hunger.
The school identified eight kids.
“I run a food bank, there’s no way I can’t be part of the answer to this problem,” Hilton said. She grabbed items from the food bank, delivered them to the school, and with that one act of kindness, the nonprofit Backpack Brigade was born.
Just one person feeding a handful of students has now expanded to hundreds of volunteers pitching in to feed 5,200 children weekly in the Seattle, Bellevue, Highline, and Renton school districts, as well as independent schools.
Those needs add up to more than a million meals distributed during the school year. Each bag includes three breakfasts, three dinners, and three snacks. Kids can choose from nine meal options, developed by Backpack Brigade in collaboration with a nutritionist, to cater to a range of cultural, religious, and dietary needs represented in the student population.
Backpack Brigade coordinates with school family support partners to get headcounts for the food deliveries to students experiencing homelessness who are receiving services under the McKinney-Vento Act, unaccompanied minors, and children who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Volunteers are the lifeline of the organization — packing bags at Backpack Brigade’s warehouse in SODO, loading cars, and making deliveries. Funding comes from individual donors, city contracts (which cover rent and salaries), grants, and community fundraising, like Backpack Brigade’s annual fundraiser in December.
The organization is in the process of hiring a director of development to focus on outreach and donor engagement, and to help elevate what the organization is already doing. At the same time they, like other food aid organizations, are experiencing increased use due to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits cuts.
“Because of the rising cost of groceries and lower grant donations—less (money) in, more out — we have a cap for the first year ever, and I’m afraid how fast we will hit that cap.”
Learn how you can help: Visit backpackbrigade.org.
