Airbus has donated $10,675 to the Feeding the Gulf Coast Backpack Program, giving 85 more children in Mobile County access to meals when they are not in school.
The Backpack Program is a privately funded program reaching 1,200 children in south Alabama. It operates with school partners to connect children with backpacks within their schools. School teachers, counselors and school nurses identify which children are in need and discreetly place the food in each child’s backpack on Friday afternoon.
Teachers in Mobile County identified 85 children in need of weekend backpacks who were not currently served with existing donations. This donation from Airbus will provide backpacks for a school year to children in Mobile County in the schools of Davidson High School, Gilliard Elementary, Morningside Elementary and Fonde Elementary.
“Picture a bus full of school children. It is a sad statistic that 1 in 4 children, that’s one in each row of that school bus, in south Alabama experiences food insecurity,” says David Reaney, President & CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast. “The Backpack Program addresses the root of hunger on weekends when children may not have access to meals. Medical professionals tell us that poor nutrition, even for brief periods, can impact both physical and mental growth of children. Teachers see that among children in their classes and that’s why the backpack program is so important.”
“The employees at the Airbus Engineering Center in Mobile have supported the Backpack Program in their neighborhood for many years,” said Michelle Hurdle, Director of Economic and Community Development. “Airbus is pleased to further that support with this donation, and hopes to help the children have a healthy educational environment, even when they are not at school.”
About Feeding the Gulf Coast:
Feeding the Gulf Coast, formerly Bay Area Food Bank, serves a 24-county area spanning south Alabama, south Mississippi and the panhandle of Florida. In 2015, the food bank distributed over 20 million pounds of food to more than 400 church pantries, soup kitchens and other nonprofit organizations throughout its service area. The food bank also operates multiple nutrition programs, including Summer Food Service, Afterschool Snack, Backpack,
Disaster Relief, Community Garden, Mobile Pantry, Cooking Matters, and SNAP Outreach. Feeding the Gulf Coast is a United Way agency and a member of Feeding America. For more information, visit www.
