Meet Our Members: St. Leo's Food Connection's Backpack Program

by Sariga Santhosh, Development Assistant

Our summit attendees at St. Leo's Food Connection

On February 6th, we hosted our first-ever Winter Food Summit to discuss the issue of community food sourcing in Tacoma. As part of the day’s events, we offered the attendees the opportunity to tour a few local member agencies whose work directly tied into the day’s topics. Our first stop was at St. Leo’s Food Connection to tour their backpack program, which rightfully boasts the title of biggest backpack program in the area during the school year. Currently, the program has enrolled 20% of students eligible for free lunches from 29 schools. Providing each student 2 days’ worth of food, this program reaches an average of 30 students per school, with over 100 students registered in some schools.

Quentin Cole shows us what goes into each backpack

This high-functioning program is mainly volunteer-run and headed by Quentin Cole, the Children’s Feeding Program Coordinator. Recognizing a direct correlation between access to regular meals and students’ academic performance, the backpack program currently serves over 750 students. The program runs on the referrals from school officials like counselors, who identify students at risk of hunger during the weekends.  Each week, Quentin relies on his team of 12-15 regular volunteers to pack bags that consist of dry food, one breakfast item (oatmeal, granola, or something similar), fresh produce gleaned from farmers markets, hearty main meal items (tuna, or soup), potatoes, 2 snack items, and shelf stable milk or juice. In total, the backpacks amount to six kid-friendly meals and snacks for each student to eat over the weekend.

Using the assembly line process, volunteers package enough food to meet 1500 calories per day for each student. 15 weekly volunteer drivers transport the bags to schools, where they are then distributed to students in the program. While primarily operating during the school year, St. Leo’s Food Connection’s Backpack program recently added ‘break boxes’ to feed hungry students during school holidays. Parents pick up boxes that feed their families until school reopens.  This way, no child has to go hungry, even when school is not in session.

Boxes of donated food!

Quentin credits the high degree of community engagement for making the program such a success. From the volunteers who give their time every week to the program to the generous folks who donate food and other supplies, the community has rose to the challenge to take care of its hungry children. Having access to quality food is crucial to the education and development of school-aged children, and programs like St. Leo’s Food Connection meet that critical need in their communities when resources are far and in between. We are grateful for their hard work, and are proud they are part of our coalition that strives to deliver better pathways to driving down hunger all over the state, one community at a time.