Understanding Weekend Hunger

Washington State is made up of about 300 school districts with an enrollment of 1+ million students. Of those, 36% qualify for free and reduced lunch and about 42,000 of those are identified as homeless.  Their last secure meal is Friday lunch, and the stretch to Monday breakfast at school is a very long time, especially for a little belly with a big growl!

Children who regularly experience hunger also experience poorer overall health, higher levels of aggression, anxiety and hyperactivity, impaired cognitive thinking and diminished capacity to learn. This often results in lower test scores, poorer academic achievement, increased school absence, tardiness and school suspensions.

While hunger and homelessness remain complicated problems, solving the problem of making sure school children have enough to eat is straightforward. Alongside our nutritionist, we track the macros of our food: calories, protein, sodium, fiber. We offer 6 distinct menus of food, our A.B.C. bags. Students can choose a Hispanic/Latino, Asian-American, Kosher/Halal, Vegan, or Gluten-Free bag.

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Student can also receive a cold bag with a apple, cheese stick and Gogurt.

We see over 100 weekly volunteers who prep and pack over 4,300 bags of food. We deliver those to schools in Seattle, Bellevue, Highline and Renton school districts working with family support workers to offer our most vulnerable support for the weekend. When students go to lunch on Friday, a bag is placed in their backpack to go home with free of charge. The vast majority of students experience housing insecurity.