The Food Drive Kids

Fighting to End Childhood Hunger

Food Drive For Backpack Buddies – 2019

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2019 food drive for backpack buddies

2019 Food Drive for Backpack Buddies

Pounds of Food Raised
Dollars Raised
Number of Volunteers

The Food Drive Kids and their volunteers pulled off another amazing food drive for Backpack Buddies in 2019! We had over 160 volunteers sign up to help fight childhood hunger.These volunteers worked in 2 hour shifts at 10 grocery stores located in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, and Durham. With their help, and after some small changes in how we operated the food drive, we broke a record. In 2019 we collected more food than ever, pulling on over 11,700 pounds of food! We will continue to collect monetary donations for an additional week in hopes of reaching our cash goal of $10,000.

The food and money collected during this year’s food drive will go to support the Backpack Buddies program at The InterFaith Food Shuttle. The program serves almost 2900 children in central NC who are at risk of hunger by giving them backpacks of food to help sustain them on the weekends.

One of the most amazing things from 2019 was the growth in our volunteer pool. We have volunteers from all over the community as well as volunteers representing many organizations including Cub Scout Pack 398, Boy Scout Troop 398, MacNair’s Country Acres 4-H Club, Girl Scout Troop 1692, Raleigh Ki Aikido, and many others! Thanks to all of our donors and volunteers for making this year’s food drive a huge success.

The team at the Harris Teeter at Tryon Villiage collected more donations, both cash and food, than any other store!

Read about our annual food drive and other ways we fight childhood hunger here.

Fighting Childhood Hunger after Hurricane Florence

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fighting childhood gunger after hurricane florence

In December 2018, The Food Drive Kids teamed up with Raleigh Swimming Association to help fight childhood hunger for kids in Pender and Onslow Counties. Donations were distributed to support Share The Table and their MUNCH program that helps make sure kids don’t go hungry when they aren’t at school. 800 additional participants have been added to the program since Hurricane Florence, and they need help!

Those living in these areas who were living paycheck to paycheck are now struggling. Many are without work (and vehicles), and those who are working have to balance home repairs (if they still have a home) along with feeding their families and other normal expenses. Loss of family income has increased the number of children applying for their backpack buddies program (weekend meals). That number to continue to rise as they approach winter break where the children will be without school food assistance for two weeks. 

The Food Drive Kids deliverd $325 pounds of food and $2,000 to help Share The Table feed the hungry kids of Pender and Onslow counties.

To keep up with other opportunities to fight childhood hunger check out out events.

2018 Backpack Buddies Food Drive

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The 2018 food drive to benefit Backpack Buddies was a huge success. We had over 180 volunteers come out and support the collection of food and donations at 10 grocery stores in Raleigh,

Durham, Cary, Garner, and Apex. We collected 8,600 pounds of food and $10,000!

This year’s food drive was dedicated to late Mrs. Rebecca (Becky) Knotts Thomas.   Mrs. Thomas was the mother of our beloved AB Combs Principal, Ms. Muriel Summers.   Mrs. Thomas was an active community leader and a long-standing member of the Business and Professional Women’s Federation.   Her life was eventful and accomplished; but none of those events or endeavors truly defined her…she is better remembered, and loved, by the ways in which she navigated life’s journey.  Her faith was at the center of her very being; and that deep and personal relationship to God was her compass, her true “north”.  She was a loyal friend who loved travel, a good time, a good meal, a good laugh and more than her fair share of mischief.   Causes important to her included serving underserved children, the lonely elderly, and the hungry.  It is with great honor that we dedicate this year’s food drive to Mrs. Thomas.

 

2017 Food Drive was the Biggest Yet

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In 2017 the goals were just as high as ever and the generosity of the community rose to met the challenge. With 10 grocery stores staffed on April 22, 2017 by over 160 volunteers we made a big dent in childhood hunger in our area. This drive generated 10,000 pounds of food and $10,420 to benefit the BackPack Buddies program that is run by The Interfaith Food Shuttle. Every year the Backpack Buddies program packs over 450,000 meals for kids who don’t have enough to eat on te weekends when they cannot rely on school breakfast and lunch.

Never Give Up

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2016 was the food drive that we went in with high hopes from a successful year with $11,000 and 10,000lbs. from 2015. we even made a kit for other kids and adults who wanted to start their own food drive. We had 10 stores that we worked with. We had a goal of $10,000 and 10,000 lbs. of food. we were disappointed that we did not raise as much as we did last year. We did not get discouraged and we kept going to 2017.