Agency Relations and Programs

Our mission is to feed the hungry in the Big Bend through our network of partner agencies, and to educate and engage the community in the fight against hunger.

Section 1

Overview

The mission of the America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend’s BackPack program is to meet the needs of hungry children in the big bend by providing them with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food to take home on weekends and school vacations when other food resources are not directly available to them.

America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend (ASHBB) started its BackPack program in the fall of 2007 with one school site in Leon County. Last year 2013-2014, ASHBB served 11 sites in 5 different counties feeding 835 children a week.

Food Bank Responsibilities

ASHBB will be responsible for the following:

  • Act as liaison between Feeding America, Schools and Community Partners
  • Assess Program Evaluation results
  • Program administration

School Responsibilities

The program site (school) will be responsible for the following:

  • Provide a staff person to coordinate the program – should require one to four hours per week depending on the number of students participating in the program
  • Select participating students based on indicators of chronic hunger
  • Administer the surveys
  • Provide storage space for product (if needed)
  • Notify ASHBB of any changes to their school calendar

School Coordinator Responsibilities

The school coordinator position should require approximately one to four hours per week depending on the number of students participating in the program. The school coordinator responsibilities are as follows:

  • Coordinate the distribution of backpacks
  • Ensure empty totes are returned to ASHBB
  • Ensure the confidentiality of the participating students
  • Submit monthly report by the 5th of each month
  • Maintain records
  • Provide and collect pre and post surveys

Section 2

Participant Selection

The Backpack Program is designed to help students who are food insecure and who are not getting sufficient food outside of school on a regular basis. This information is provided to help identify a “chronically hungry” child.

Food Insecurity

If a child does not get enough food outside of school he/she is considered “food insecure.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as households that are uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet basic needs of all their members because of insufficient money or other resources.

Examples of food insecurity:

  • A chronically hungry child will be anxious for a meal to be served, sometimes showing up early for meals
  • Rushing food lines
  • Extreme hunger on Monday morning
  • Eating all of the food served
  • Not being picky about food served
  • Lingering around for second helpings

Secondary Indicators

Apart from recognizing food insecurity, physical appearance, school performance and home situation are secondary indicators that help confirm chronic hunger.

Parental Consent

ASHBB does not require parental consent for a student to be in the Backpack Program. If your school chooses to require parental consent, that is acceptable and we can provide asample letter for you upon request.

Section 3

Logistics

Delivery

  • Amount of Food: Schools or sites participating in ASHBB’s BackPack program will receive a delivery of food once a week, consisting of a week’s worth of BackPack bags or other amount as agreed.
  • Delivery Day: The day of delivery will be determined by fit with ASHBB’s existing delivery schedule.
  • Meeting Delivery Driver: The BackPack Site Coordinator (or designee) must meet the ASHBB delivery driver to receive the food.
  • Can’t Meet the Driver – Must Reschedule: If the BackPack Site Coordinator (or designee) is unable to meet the ASHBB delivery truck driver when a scheduled delivery is to occur, it is the BackPack Site Coordinator’s responsibility to notify ASHBB in advance of the delivery to reschedule the delivery. This notification must occur at least two business days before the original delivery date. Call Samantha McClellan at (850) 562- 303, ext. 202.
  • No One Reschedules, No One Meets Driver? Food will not be Left at Site: If the BackBack Site Coordinator (or designee) fails to notify ASHBB of a needed rescheduling and ASHBB’s delivery truck comes to the site and the BackPack Site Coordinator (or designee) is not there to receive the product, the food will not be left at the site. The food will be returned to the food bank. In the case that this occurs, the BackPack Site Coordinator is responsible for picking up the product from the ASHBB warehouse. The food must be picked up within two business days. Notification of when this pickup will occur must be made in advance with the Child Nutrition Program Coordinator.
  • Check the Delivery: The BackPack Site Coordinator (or designee) must check the BackPack food delivery each time the ASHBB truck delivers. Let ASHBB Child Nutrition Program Coordinator know if anything is incorrect (not the correct number of bags, leaking bags, etc).
  • Sign for the Delivery: It is required that the BackPack Site Coordinator (or designee) sign for delivery at each food delivery. This signed sheet will serve as a record of that the site received an accurate delivery.
  • Bad Weather: In the case of inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstance, ASHBB will make every effort to contact each BackPack Site Coordinator if the delivery will be delayed or postponed. In the event that this does occur, ASHBB will reschedule as soon as ASHBB is able.
  • Site Calendar: In order for ASHBB to honor set delivery schedules, ASHBB must have a copy of each site’s calendar for the school year. It must include any days the facility will be closed or inaccessible and any weeks the site will not distribute BackPacks.
  • ASHBB Set Holidays: ASHBB will be closed the following holidays: Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, and Independence Day.

Storage

The following requirements must be met when storing food:

  • Product must be stored at least 6” off of the floor and not within 10” of the ceiling.
  • Product must be stored in a clean, dry environment.
  • Please keep each different “pack” of food separate.

Section 4

Reporting

Monthly Report

All Monthly Reports must be submitted no later than the 5th of each month.

Monthly Reports must be entered in the On-Line Partner Agency Portal found under the Partner Agencies tab at

Program Evaluation

Your participation in the Program Evaluation is mandatory, if you have concerns about the Program Evaluation please feel free to contact Shannon Piotrowski at (850) 562-3033, ext. 214.

The following components are part of the Program Evaluation:

  • The Parent Survey needs to be submitted at the end of the year.
  • The Student Permission Form should be done once at the beginning of the school year or at the beginning of the program and should be filled out before the student receives their first backpack of the year then turned into ASHBB by an agreed upon date. Then the students should fill out a second survey at the end of the school year and it should be submitted to ASHBB.
  • The Pre-Teacher survey should be submitted at the beginning of the year and a Post-Teacher survey should be submitted at the end of the year.

All surveys will be provided electronically and should be submitted at their appropriate times.

Section 5

Backpack Manufacturing

Contents of the bag

Food items will vary from week to week depending on what is donated to ASHBB and what we are able to purchase. We try our best to include the following items in every bag:

  • Breakfast Item (Cereal, oatmeal, or grits)
  • 1% Milk-shelf stable x 2
  • Protein (canned chicken, tuna, beans, or peanut butter)
  • Grain (pasta, rice, or loaf of bread)
  • Canned Fruit
  • Canned Vegetable
  • Ready to Eat Items (Beef stew, chili, Ravioli, of a hearty soup) x 2
  • Snack (granola, cereal bar, or crackers)
  • Fresh produce (when available)

Supplemental Product

ASHBB encourages community partners and/or schools to add supplemental product to the backpacks for the students. Supplemental items should be approved by the school before being put into the backpacks.

Other examples of items that can be included in the backpacks are (but are not limited to)winter hats, gloves, coloring books, crayons, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Media & Marketing

Schools and community partners should notify ASHBB of all media requests and media coverage for the Backpack Program.

Section 6

Program Support

ASHBB’s BackPack program is supported by private foundations, individual donors, civic groups and local businesses. Each year, staff of ASHBB reapply and re-solicit donors for funds to keep the program going. Sometimes ASHBB is successful enough with these fundraising efforts that the program can expand.

If your school or organization has a church, business or group in the community that supports you, tell them about the BackPack program and how it benefits your children. Each site’s BackPack Program is an ambassador to the community for the BackPack Program as a whole.

If interest in helping/getting involved is expressed, there are many ways they can help. They can donate money to ensure the program has the funds to continue. They can hold food drives to benefit the BackPack program. They can volunteer to assemble BackPack bags. The more BackPack supporters there are, the more successful the program will be overall.

Section 7

Food Bank Staff

Dustin States-Agency Relations Assistant

850.562.3033 x207

Shannon Piotrowski-Nutrition and Programs Director

850.562.3033 x 214
BACKPACK PROGRAM CONTACT FORM

1Backpack Program Manual