$39,431 raised by 595 donors
100% complete
$20,000 Goal
No child should be hungry.
Help KidsPak ensure food-insecure students in our local community have food through weekends and summers, so they can show up on Monday ready to learn.
Hunger is a painful experience that disrupts a student's ability to concentrate or participate in daily activities.. Food insecurity prevents students from reaching their full potential and becoming successful adults. These consequences of hunger ripple into our greater society and cost all of us. Help us create a healthier future for our kids and our community!
Did you know that 1 in 3 students in Thompson School District are eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch Programs?
For these students, school meals may be the only food they receive, meaning that without KidsPak they may stay hungry from Friday evening through Monday morning.
Long-term developmental consequences of hunger may also result in
🎓decreased academic achievement
💣disruptive behaviors in the classroom, and
😔increased depression & anxiety
It doesn’t need to be this way.
KidsPak is adding more High School Pantries for the chronically underserved teen segment! After a successful pilot program, KidsPak will be rolling out pantries at Ferguson High School and The Landing (A Youth Shelter by Matthews House) in January 2025. We'd love to add
Berthoud High and Loveland High to that list, but we'll need to bring in more funding to purchase the food.
These pantries focus on increased anonymity and individual food choices while providing recognizable food brands. The goal is to make teens using our services blend seamlessly with their peers increasing well-being with choice and self-empowerment while honoring individual dignity.
Monthly donors increase impact! Allowing us to buy food when good pricing
appears and plan for the future.
Consider making a monthly gift to champion feeding kids in our community.
Learn more by clicking below.
By focusing on providing food support to food-insecure youth, KidsPak not only addresses immediate needs but also contributes to the long-term well-being and development of children. Partnering with schools, communities, donors, and volunteers shows a holistic approach to tackling the issue, leveraging various resources and expertise to make a meaningful impact. We do this work through our weekend food bag program, our summer meals program and other means of supporting our local youth.
In early 2009, a member of the Loveland Rotary Club in Colorado saw a national newscast about the explosion of weekend backpack food programs. Dismayed by the prevalence of hunger among school children, they contacted the Thompson School District to find out if they had a similar needs. While the school functioned as a safety net during the week, they had no way to support these kids during the weekends. Within a few weeks, Rotarians created the new program, KidsPak.
KidsPak educates every teacher with a list of 17 criteria to help them evaluate a student for signs of hunger, a tool created by the USDA. School staff are able to speak with parents/guardians to receive permission and distribute bags directly to the students, maintaining the confidentiality and dignity with which families are served.
KidsPak began with 34 students from three schools and, by the end of the first full year, was serving over 100 students. In 2021, KidsPak grew to become a 501(c)3 agency in its own right. In the early 2023-24 school year, the number of requests was nearing 700 per week. More than at any time either before or during the COVID Health Emergency.
With food insecurity in our nation at an all-time high and SNAP benefit cuts likely, we are asking for your help to meet unprecedented need right here, in the community where you live. Your dollars are carefully stewarded, leveraging over 350 volunteers per year to make dollars count where it matters. Can you be a KidsPak Champion?
Organization name
KidsPak, Weekend Food Bags
other names
(previously Loveland Rotary KidsPak, since 2009)
2021
Tax id (EIN)
86-1897223
Category
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition, Education, Public & Societal Benefit
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
PO Box 2078Larimer County, CO, US
Loveland, CO, US
Berthoud, CO, US
Weld County, CO, US
Boulder County, CO, US