The New Paltz Rotary Club is proud to be a participant in the Backpack Program for a second year!!
 
The BackPack Program is designed to meet the needs of hungry children on weekends, when other resources are not available. The program provides backpacks filled with food that is child-friendly, shelf-stable, and easily-consumed. Bags are packed each week by school staff and discreetly distributed to participating children every Friday afternoon. For the 2014-2015 school year the club supported 27 children in the program and looking to increase our numbers for this school year. The ultimate goal is to reach 60 children.

• The BackPack Program partners with 92 schools throughout 18 counties, serving over 2,500
children each week.
• Over 70,000 backpacks were distributed during the 2014-15 school year; the equivalent of over
420,000 meals distributed directly to children in need.
• 73,000 lbs. of fresh produce was distributed to BackPack students during the 2014-15 school year.
 
Each bag includes…• 2 breakfast items (cereal, oatmeal packets, graham crackers, granola bars) • 3 entrées (mac & cheese, PB & J, Spaghetti Os, tuna, soup), etc. • A loaf of bread • Milk card for a gallon of milk (distributed every other week) *Juice boxes (100% juice when possible) • Fresh fruits • Canned vegetables (distributed once a month) • 2 snacks (cookies, popcorn, pudding, etc.)


The BackPack program is funded entirely by local donations, 100% of donations go towards running the BackPack program.
 The average cost of one backpack full of food is $5.56 and
the cost to sponsor a child for a full school year is $167.00.
When sending in a donation, be sure to indicate that you’d like the funds to be directed to the

“BackPack Program”.