Dan Harbeke, Director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad, and The Idaho Foodbank's President and CEO Karen Vauk.

The Idaho Foodbank is the proud recipient of a $2,500 grant from the Union Pacific Railroad Foundation.

The Foodbank’s Backpack Program provides free, nutritious, kid-friendly food to 2,000 elementary-aged children across the states who are at risk of hunger over weekends. With parental permission, backpacks are distributed discreetly to chronically hungry children on Fridays or the last day of the school week. The weekend backpack weighs about 6 pounds and is comprised of two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and two snacks that are child-friendly, easy to prepare and non-perishable.

In order to meet the high nutritional standards necessary for this program, the Foodbank buys all the food for these 2,000 children every school week. This donation will provide 10 children with backpacks for an entire school year. If you would like to join the Union Pacific Railroad Foundation and our many other donors, click here for an easy donation form.

Many of the folks from Wells Fargo (left, in red shirts) who volunteered for the noon shift came back for more and were joined by a large contingent from Citi Group (right, in blue shirts), some YMCA Teen Leaders and some unaffiliated volunteers. Their goal was to finish building the last 1,600 backpack refills we will need to finish out the school year. The only question was how quickly they would get it done.

Citi Group

YMCA Teen Leaders

 

Wells Fargo