Nemours Children’s Health donates $10,000 to Food Bank of Delaware Backpack Program

February 22, 2022

The Food Bank of Delaware today announced that it has received a $10,000 donation from Nemours Children’s Health to help fight hunger and improve nutrition among children in Delaware. Funds will be used to support the Backpack Program for kids.

Through the Backpack Program, children at risk of hunger receive bags full of healthy, easy-to-prepare food for weekends and holidays when school is not in session. Nemours Children’s donation will enable the Food Bank to provide weekend and holiday meals to 37 students for an entire year.

“We are grateful for Nemours Children’s support of this critical program for kids,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Cathy Kanefsky. “The thought of children going to bed hungry at night is heartbreaking and is not acceptable for us at the Food Bank of Delaware. We are working hard each day to make sure no child goes to bed with an empty stomach. Thanks to generous donors like Nemours Children’s Health, we can ensure that the one in six Delaware children who face hunger have the proper nutrition to learn, play and grow.”

Bags for the program are stocked with kid-friendly, nutritious foods including shelf-stable milk and juice, meals such as macaroni and cheese and beef stew, cereal, snacks and more. Bags are delivered to schools throughout the state, and school officials discreetly place the bags in participants’ backpack for the weekend or holiday.

“We commend the Food Bank of Delaware for the tireless work they do to help feed Delaware’s children,” said Mark Mumford, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive of Nemours Delaware Valley Operations at Nemours Children’s Health. “We know that eighty percent of a child’s ability to achieve health occurs outside of the doctor’s office. Partnering with the Food Bank of Delaware on important initiatives like the Backpack Program perfectly align with our commitment to redefine children’s health and focus on a whole child health model. Nemours Children’s Health is honored to help support this impactful program.”

Last year, the Food Bank of Delaware distributed 140,159 meal kits for a total of 560,636 meals to at-risk children through the program. To learn more about the Backpack Program at the Food Bank of Delaware, visit www.fbd.org/backpack-program.

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