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Backpack Buddies

Fight Food Insecurity with Backpack Buddies!

The Backpack Buddies program at TBT needs your time, talent, and donations to provide local kids facing food insecurity with meals and snacks every weekend.

Who we are:

  • Since Fall 2019, the TBT Backpack Buddies initiative has been helping to fight food insecurity in our local schools
  • Our temple’s chapter of Backpack Buddies is inspired by, and connected to, Backpack Buddies of Metro Atlanta  
  • Nearly 20 dedicated volunteers from the TBT membership keep the program running every week from August through May
What we do:
  • Provide weekend meals & snacks for kids who rely on school lunches during the week
  • The TBT chapter currently serves about 25 students at 2 schools (Esther Jackson Elementary in Roswell and Sawyer Road Elementary in Marietta)
  • We help reduce the stigma of hunger by sending meal bags home with students in plain black backpacks
  • For students living in long-term hotels without access to cooking facilities, we provide snack packs with snacks, fruit, cereal, and boxed milk
How you can help:
 
Volunteer
This important program always needs volunteers. Our volunteers include working professionals, parents of school-aged children, and retirees alike. Working with Backpack Buddies is a great family volunteer activity, and students willing to help out regularly can earn mitzvah hours alongside their parents. We are also super fun to be around!
 
We need help in all areas of our initiative. Most of our tasks allow you to make a huge difference in the community in only 3-4 hours a month.
 
You can:
  • Shop for supplies
  • Pack meal bags for students
  • Deliver bags to schools (typically mid-day on Thursdays)
  • Shelve inventory and clear recycling
  • Spreadsheet management/logistics skills
  • Organizational/leadership*
 
Donate
Our most pressing need is non-perishable items for our shelves. Drop donations on our cart in the Religious School lobby anytime. We always need…
  • Boxed milk (individual cartons)
  • Individually wrapped snacks
  • Applesauce/fruit cups
  • Canned beans
  • Pasta, rice, mac & cheese
TBT also has a designated fund to support Backpack Buddies.
For more information about making a financial contribution to the program, please contact Eric Chanin.

Learn more…

For more information or to find out about current volunteer activities, please contact Jeannine Bernstein or Renee Weiskopf

 
Thu, November 21 2024 20 Cheshvan 5785