Brookings Backpack Project

Brookings Backpack Project provides at-risk children with nutritious, easy-to-prepare foods during weekends and holidays when school is not in session. Bags of food are distributed through the local schools in Brookings, Sioux Valley and Elkton and the local Head Start program. School counselors and teachers distribute these bags to the children on Friday so they will have food to eat on the weekend. During the summer months we distribute food bags to families every week and the past two summers we were able to provide family size items as the price of groceries increased and children no longer received free breakfast and lunches and the snap program was also lowered. Monthly a "special bag" is packed along with the regular food bag. Some of the items included in this bag are hygiene items, craft items, holiday items, socks, colored pencils and crayons, coloring books, journals, stickers, anti-bullying items, all to fulfill the second part of our mission statement, "By helping to sustain these children, Brookings Backpack Project seeks not only to help meet their nutritional needs but also to promote their physical, cognitive and social development, and to enhance their overall sense of well-being".