Event raises $33,000 for food banks
The CoastHills Community Foundation raised $33,000 at the Rancho Vino food, wine and entertainment event last month, the second annual event to help local food banks feed hungry children.
The BackPack Program, which began in 2006, provides backpacks full of nutritious food for children who are homeless or living in transient housing to eat on weekends. It takes $500 per school year to fund one child, with half the cost coming from foundation grants that must be matched by the local community.
During the school year, the children receive free lunches and snacks during the school day, but often go hungry when school lets out Friday afternoons and until it resumes Monday mornings.
Every Thursday, volunteers fill hundreds of backpacks with ready-to-eat, healthy foods such as peanut butter, fresh fruit, bottled water, pop-top cans of tuna and other easy-to- prepare meals. The children take the backpacks home and enjoy six healthy meals over the weekend. They bring them back on Monday to be refilled for the following weekend.
Event raises $33,000 for food banks.