Friday, October 12th, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle kicked off it second year of BackPack Buddies with a 25% increase in service.  Wool E. Bull joined us at the John Avery Boys and Girls Club in Durham, where all the children participate in the BackPack Buddies Program.

BackPack Buddies provides 6 nutritious meals and 2 snacks to children for the weekend who are dependent on free and reduced lunch during the week.  The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle follows the children through the school year. 

This is a program that cannot be done without community support.  Groups pack backpacks, volunteers deliver backpacks, and clubs, religious organizations, offices, and preschools put on food drives…. 

Meet Our Newest Community “Hunger Fighters”

The families of Beth Meyer Preschool have adopted 20 children.  Each week, families take home a backpack to fill with their preschooler.   The children are learning that they can make a difference at a young age.  They proudly march their filled backpacks out saying “We are BackPack Buddies!!”   On the motivation for getting involved in the BackPack Buddies Program, Robin, Sisterhood and Preschool Social Action Chair, said, “ It is not as easy to remember others in our daily lives.  By participating in a weekly tzedekah (charity) program, families learn that giving is a regular part of a Jewish rhythm to life.”    

People Making a Difference Together

Two giving circles—Brier Creek Circle of Giving and Trigiving--stepped up to meet an immediate need.  To start this school year with 500 children, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle needed more backpacks right away.  Leslie Starsoneck shared the need with a giving circle in Durham and both groups sent checks to ensure the Food Shuttle could start the school year out feeding as many children as possible! Leslie, of Brier Creek Circle of Giving, said they wanted to participate because they believed in supporting the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s mission of fighting hunger with nutritious foods.  The backpacks “provide the kids with some privacy helping to preserve their dignity and shield them from potential ridicule by other kids,” said Leslie, which was one of the compelling reasons the giving circles decided to help the program by paying for the backpacks.   

And There’s So Much More….

The BackPack Buddies Program is a wonderful opportunity for the community to get involved in fighting hunger.  Already, many valuable partners have joined this effort…Cardinal Gibbons High School and the Legislative Pages have packed backpacks, as well as many other volunteers.  Volunteers are delivering the backpacks to the sites, and food drives are happening.  Wal-Mart has given grant money to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle for the BackPack Buddies Program for the past two years.  Won’t you become a BackPack Buddy too…

Help us feed the children in our community!  Call 250-0043 to get involved.

Children’s Programs

NC Congressman Bob Etheridge shares a snack with children participating in the Food Shuttle's Summer Food Service Program.

From our inception, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has made childhood hunger one of our highest service priorities. We continually look for new programs and new ways to get our nutritious, fresh foods onto the plates of children who have too little. In Wake and Durham Counties, more than 50,000 low-income children receive free and reduced-price lunch through the National School Lunch Program. But what do these children do after school, during the weekends, or through summer break? We won’t let them go hungry.

Summer Food Service Program

The Summer Food Service Program provides summer activities and a balanced cold lunch, breakfast, and/or snack to children who receive free & reduced lunches during the academic year, but “fall through the cracks” during the summer months. Healthy meals which conform with federal guidelines are provided to children participating in approved summer day camp programs. The meals are prepared in our state-of-the-art kitchen by trainees and graduates of our Culinary Job Training Program, and are delivered on Food Shuttle trucks. Partners in Summer Food Service include Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, Housing Authority Communities, and Womble Carlyle.


Backpack Buddies Program
Also targets kids who access free & reduced-price lunches at school, but need other nutritional support over the weekends. Children from targeted neighborhoods & schools are identified, and are handed backpacks loaded with appetizing healthy foods to tide them over the weekend. Local corporations, civic groups & individuals help us collect backpacks and the kid-friendly nonperishable food we will fill them with, and pack the bags for the children. Empty backpacks are collected, and then re-filled for the next weekend’s use. Partners include Southwest Airlines, Housing Authority Communities, Church of the Nativity, Soapstone UMC, and Fairmont UMC.

Kids Café
The Food Shuttle provides healthy, hot dinners for children participating in evening tutoring programs. Hot, balanced meals are prepared in our kitchen by students and graduates of our Culinary Job Training Program, the meals are flash-frozen, and re-heated on site for service to at-risk youth. Partners include Avent Ferry UMC, Western Boulevard Presbyterian in Raleigh, Lakewood YMCA in Durham, Hargraves Center Parks & Rec. in Chapel Hill, and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

Tutoring Programs
A healthy snack of fruit, granola bars, juice boxes, and crackers are provided to after-school tutoring programs at Housing Authority Communities, and Communities in Schools facilities.

Blue Ribbon Panel
The Food Shuttle is forming a large coalition of community partners to raise awareness of the issues of childhood hunger and food insecurity in the Triangle.

Are you interested in helping the Food Shuttle help hungry children? All these programs need volunteers and financial support. Please call 919-250-0043.