Ankeny Backpack Buddies, Hawks Basketball Team Up Against Child Hunger

Want to find a way to give back? You can help curb child hunger by simply attending an Ankeny basketball game.

The Ankeny Hawks are teaming up with Backpack Buddies to help do exactly that. Bring a non-perishable food item to the home basketball games on Jan. 25, 29 and Feb. 1, and it will be donated to the Food Bank of Iowa to support Backpack Buddies, a supplementary food program implemented in the district in March 2012 for chronically hungry elementary students.

Backpack Buddies is designed to curb child hunger in the district by providing a sack of kid-friendly foods to low-income elementary school children on weekends and during school breaks when they do not have access to the federal free and reduced-price meal program.

The program has been a collaborative effort between the Ankeny Kiwanis Club, the Ankeny Leadership Institute, Project Fresh Start, the Food Bank of Iowa, Ankeny Community School District and Ankeny First United Methodist Church.

Collaboration of community partners, civic organizations, and volunteers have helped to secure the program at East Elementary School and expand the program to Southeast Elementary, according to a press release issued by the school district.

“We couldn't do this without the partnerships. It took an opportunity to bring everyone to the table to create something amazing like this,” said Julianne Taylor, principal at East Elementary School, in a recent news release.

Other donors that have contributed to the program include The Variety Club, John Deere Des Moines Works, several Parent-Teacher Organizations and Prairie Meadows.

It costs about $150 to provide supplemental food to each student per semester, according to Kerry Walter-Ashby with Backpack Buddies.

Learn more about Ankeny Backpack Buddies:

Ankeny Backpack Buddies Aims to Curb Child Hunger