Blessings in a Backpack: Waukesha Co. organization makes sure kids don’t go hungry



MILWAUKEE -- For many students in southeastern Wisconsin, meals at school are a necessary source of food. But what happens on the weekend? A Waukesha County organization is making sure those kids don't go hungry when the school bell rings. Regina Estrada of Blessings in a Backpack joins Real Milwaukee with the details.

About Blessings in a Backpack (website)

In 2012 we founded the Waukesha County Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack to bring this mission to life . . . in our own backyard. We are a self-funded, local chapter of the national organization, Blessings in a Backpack. The weekend gap beginning at 3:00 Friday afternoon and ending at 8:00 Monday morning, is a time that many children of struggling families go hungry.

In 2012, we started bridging the gap by serving 25 students at Hadfield Elementary School in Waukesha. Today, we have grown to serve approximately 900 children at four Waukesha elementary schools. We help bridge the gap for impoverished elementary school children every Friday by filling their backpacks with food for the weekend. We feel fortunate to have grown from serving 25 children to 900 in a few short years, but are not ready to rest. It's a heart-breaking fact that 4,600 children in Waukesha are hungry over the weekends.

Help us bridge the gap.