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  • kidsaid 0000 Vector Smart Object The Backpack Program

Alleviating weekend hunger so that children arrive at school only hungry to learn.

The Backpack Program bridges the weekend hunger gap for children, and Kids Aid works diligently to remove all barriers to participation. Children do not have to travel to access food because volunteers bring the food directly to children at their home, school, or designated summer neighborhood sites. Kids Aid also has “Pop-Up” Stops throughout the valley so food is accessible to everyone. Neither children nor their parents are required to fill out a form to sign up to receive food—if a child indicates that they need food, they get a bag.

Menu selection, packing and distribution

Every week, Kids Aid reviews the food that is available at Food Bank of the Rockies, as well as our other food sources, and designs a menu using available food that has high nutritional content. Care is also taken to select age-appropriate food that children can prepare themselves and will not make the bag too heavy for children to carry.

Kids Aid typically distributes nine to 10 items in each biodegradable bag—two to three dinner items, two lunch items, two breakfast items and three snacks. The items are selected and paired so children can easily prepare meals (e.g., canned chicken is paired with refried beans and tortillas to make burritos.) Also, to ensure that children who cannot access food at Kids Aid’s primary sites do not go hungry, Kids Aid delivers food to community agencies in strategic locations throughout Mesa County. Some volunteers deliver food directly to children’s homes if they know that transportation is a barrier to accessing food.

Every Wednesday and Thursday, volunteers come to the warehouse and prepare the orders that will be distributed that week. Site Coordinators tell Kids Aid how many bags of food they need each week and share any unique circumstances or needed adjustments (e.g. if a site will be closed on their normal delivery day.) Sites are responsible for discretely distributing the food to students, so no child feels shame for taking it.

“Both my husband and I suffered reduced hours or job loss with COVID-19. The backpack program was vital for our family. It helped us to keep our children fed while working on getting back on our feet.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“It has helped stretch a tiny food budget and provided items my children would eat.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“It's been very helpful to us during a difficult financial time especially since many of these foods were hard to find in grocery stores during the pandemic.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“My parents don't make a lot of money. With six people living in one house our food supply drops quickly. This helps greatly.”
Child Participant
Child Participant
“We have never been involved with the backpack program but during COVID-19 and oilfield layoffs we were impacted pretty badly, and these helped out tremendously.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“Not having to worry about food lets me focus on bills and my children’s happiness.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“The food helps us to supplement our food stamps so that we can make it through the month.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“Being laid off because of COVID-19 these have been such a blessing knowing my kids will have something to eat.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“It really helps to stretch my food budget, especially snack foods because they are an expensive luxury.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
“It is very generous and helps take the edge off of getting foods kids enjoy eating in a stressful time.”
Parent Participant
Parent Participant
"We absolutely love the beef sticks! My brother and I fight over them."
Child Participant
Child Participant
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Help Us, Help You! Take our survey.

If you, your child, or your family has ever received a bag of food from Kids Aid, please give us your feedback. Help us continue to make our program a success!

What foods are on your favorite list? What recipes are the tastiest? Beef sticks, yay or nay? Mac and Cheese, take it or leave it? Mashed potatoes and gravy, can we get a WAHOO!? 

All responses are anonymous and will help us improve the Kids Aid program. Thank you!

Kids Aid Recipient Survey

Watch our KID CHEFS In Action!

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

There are no qualifications for children and youth to use The Backpack Program. If you are a hungry kid, we will feed you; no questions asked.

Simply contact the site and ask for the Kids Aid Site Coordinator, talk to the child’s teacher, or front office staff. That’s it!

Anyone can request a food bag for a child or youth. i.e., Parents, caregivers, teachers, school staff, doctors, etc.

Because Kids Aid doesn’t ask for names, only total number of bags needed per site, the Site Coordinator at your site will likely be the only person who knows, and we ask them to distribute bags discreetly.

We deliver all throughout Mesa County, Colorado—including every school in Mesa County Valley School District 51, Colorado Mesa University, Gateway, Plateau Valley, Debeque, preschools, day care centers, alternative schools, K-12 schools, homeschools, private schools, charter schools, summer programs, community centers, and local nonprofit agencies. Kids Aid also has “Pop-Up Stops” throughout the valley so no one has to go without food over the weekend. Please contact us if you would like to bring The Backpack Program to your location. We’re always looking for new community partners.

Volunteers deliver bags to Mesa County Valley School District 51 schools and sites by Friday morning or the day before an extended weekend. See our calendar for distribution dates.

The Backpack Program is available nearly all year.

  • Throughout the school year, bags of food are distributed weekly Bags that are distributed before long breaks include extra food items to help students get through the extended breaks without hunger. We also offer children double bags for extended breaks.
  • Over the summer, Kids Aid follows SD51’s Lunch Lizard program routes and distributes our bags of food on Thursdays so kids can eat over the weekends through the summers as well. Kids Aid is available to deliver bags to summer extension programs, daycares, preschools, REC programs, and camps, as well as other programs that are open all summer. Kids Aid also partners with school liaisons over the summer to deliver Kids Aid food bags to children’s homes if they are unable to get to a Lunch Lizard stop.
  • In a typical bag there are dinner items, lunch items, breakfast items, and snack items. Some foods you might find in your bag:
    • Skillet dinners, locally made tortillas, canned pastas with meat, protein: tuna or chicken, canned beans, soup, rice, applesauce, canned fruits, raisins, dried fruit, yogurt pouches, instant oatmeal, cereal, granola and/or cereal bars, shelf-sustainable milk and cheese, macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, trail mix, beef sticks, jerky, crackers, chips, popcorn, cookies, fresh apples and oranges (pending availability)

Availability of menu items, cost, weight, and nutritional values are considered when preparing our weekly menus.

Kids Aid is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing for the needs of children, with a primary focus on supplying food to hungry kids.

Contact Info
  • 2978 Gunnison Ave
    Grand Junction, CO 81504
  • (970) 712-2847
  • [email protected]
  • EIN#: 26-1673162
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