Our Backpack Program is unique, as we provide food and specific recipes based on the educational story that is headlined in the age-appropriate magazine.  The entire backpack has a theme; for example, "While You're Asleep" is the title we are sending out to some of our agencies in January.  In this packet, we incorporate the occupations that happen while the children sleep, i.e. fishermen and women, bakers, and nurses.  For the main dish, families are asked to prepare a "tuna noodle casserole" to tie in with the fishing theme.  The dessert planned is called "Night Sky Cupcakes."  The recipe calls for blue food coloring and white writing gel.  We suggest the children use the blue food coloring on the white frosting to represent the night sky and the white writing gel to draw the stars and moon.  This is a nice treat, as most of our children do not have the opportunity to eat homemade cupcakes.  It also serves as an activity as well, and it gets them to understand nighttime a little more.

The activities for this backpack go along with the theme.  We include all the craft materials for a "styling sleep mask," made out of felt and designed by the children.  There is a particular story in this book which talks about the Guard at the Cosmopolitan Art Gallery who stays up all night guarding the expensive art while the museum is closed.  As a second activity, we include paint and paper for the children to create their own works of art!  We create many other parts of the curriculum in order to tie the backpack together as a whole.  The last page of the curriculum includes an evaluation sheet that the recipients fill out and return along with the empty backpack to their agency's program director.

The process then starts again, once a month with an empty backpack!  In getting the backpack ready for the next month, we come up with the curriculum, order all ingredients, and get them to the agencies.  The agency then decides the best time to distribute the backpacks that month.  The evaluation sheet that we receive back helps us in the overall job we are doing - which is enabling and inspiring the families we serve.

If you would like to donate to the Backpack Program, please email our Development Director at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .