Backpack program is expanding)....It is a popular and much needed program.

It was developed by the Imperial Valley Food Bank. The impetus for the program? To ensure children had adequate food over the weekend. Low-income children would get good meals during the week at school, but what happened on the weekend? The Imperial Valley Food Bank developed the backpack program. Children enrolled in the program would receive a backpack at the end of the school day on Fridays. The backpacks would be full of nutritious food they could eat over the weekend. They would bring the empty backpack to school on Mondays. During the 2026-2027 school year they expect to hand-out 1,600 backpacks to students from kindergarten through High School.