Understanding Weekend Hunger

Washington State is made up of about 300 school districts with an enrollment of 1+ million students. In King County, 36% qualify for free and reduced lunch and about 8,000 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 are complex challenges, one part of the solution is straightforward: making sure children have enough nutritious food to eat when school is closed.

Working alongside our nutritionist, Backpack Brigade carefully develops menus that balance calories, protein, fiber, and sodium to support growing kids. We offer 11 distinct menu options designed to reflect the diverse cultural and dietary needs of students across King County.

Our culturally responsive options include Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Kosher, and Halal menus. We also offer vegan, gluten-free, Build-a-Bag, Cold Bag, Preschool, and our newest Pantry Bag option, alongside our standard weekend food bags.

We see 200 weekly volunteers who prep and pack over 5,300 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.