Our Weekend Meal Program is the core of our organization. It is our response to a need we hear frequently from Principals and school staff: “My students don’t have food on the weekends, can you help?” Click to read the story.
CHILD HUNGER IN MINNESOTA
Over 300,000 children in Minnesota don’t always have access to the nutrition they need to learn and grow. This is a horrible reality for so many kids in our community. Every Meal focuses on filling the weekend food gap for Pre-K through 8th grade students. While food support is also needed for high and post-high-school students, we intentionally direct our limited resources to help young children during their most critical developmental years.
MORE THAN A BACKPACK FOOD PROGRAM
Not a typical “backpack program” but a full-service non-profit organization specializing in equipping the community to implement weekend meal programs in their local school. Every Meal provides the tools and expertise required to make an effective and significant impact on child hunger.
We are a mobile delivery solution, providing food to children right where they are – at school. Our broad network provides 4-5 pounds of good food directly to children – at the end of each school week we put the food into their backpack for them to take home.
THE COMMUNITY’S ROLE
Every Meal facilitates a partnership between community organizations (i.e. churches, businesses, and other faith communities) and schools. We call these partner groups Sponsors. Sponsors partner directly with a specific school and donate towards the cost of the program. They also typically volunteer in the school each week to distribute the food to the kids. The food is distributed discreetly, typically into the kids’ backpacks while they aren’t in the halls.
EVERY MEAL’S ROLE
Our main role is to manage the operations and logistics of the Weekend Meal Program to ensure it runs smoothly and is well supported.
Every Meal sources the food and runs the inventory management and food packing events. We also store and deliver the packed food to the schools. Our hands-on guidance and expertise are an integral support component to our network of programs. Every Meal also provides helpful materials including promotional material, multiple-language permission slips, and sponsor fundraising tools. We also provide any additional help needed along the way.
