Senator Kathy Harrington visited the BackPack Weekend Food Program (BWFP) warehouse on Tuesday, October 15 to personally thank volunteers with the program and roll up her sleeves to help pull food orders for nearly 800 students. Each month during the school year, volunteers assemble at the BWFP warehouse to organize food items for partners to pick up. Partners represent churches, local businesses, households and community groups. Partners take food items from the warehouse once a month, pack individual food bags and deliver to students at schools each week to take home on the weekend.
Like other nonprofits, the BWFP is sustainable because of its more than 500 volunteers scattered throughout Gaston County who support the program through packing, delivering food and generous financial giving.
“Indispensable to the BWFP program are its volunteers and countless volunteer hours committed to making sure students in need have enough food to eat on the weekend,” said Dallas Butler, Executive Director. “The number of volunteers’ hands that touch the food items before they ever reach the hands of our students is a remarkable testimony to the abundance of kindness in this community. We are so grateful to Senator Harrington and many others who have a heart for this program and the students’ lives it is impacting.”
The BWFP provides nutritious weekend meals to students K-12 in Gaston County Schools. Between 800 to 1,000 students receive food on the weekend through the program during the school year.