NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Recess
Beginning Friday, 150 more students in the City School District of Albany will take home backpacks filled with food to help their families provide nutritional meals on the weekends.
The Feed and Read Program, formerly the Weekend Backpack Food Program, is expanding to serve 625 families in the 2017-18 school year. City School District of Albany Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams joined the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society (HATAS), the program’s lead organization, and other community partners Wednesday to kick off the program for another school year.
“We are so thankful for all of the community partners and volunteers who have come forward in such a significant way to support our students and families,” Adams said. “The Feed and Read Program helps us in addressing one of the first steps in breaking the cycle of poverty. When students are able to focus in school because they’re not hungry, that improves their academic success and increases their opportunities as they grow up.”
The backpack program began in the 2014-15 school year serving 14 families. It expanded to 109 families the following year and jumped to 475 families in 2016-17. Under HATAS’ leadership, financial support continues to grow and the program has expanded again for 2017-18.
The program will provide 625 elementary and middle-school students with 12 pounds of food every Friday afternoon during the school year. This year the program also has expanded to provide a gift card redeemable for milk each week as well as an age-appropriate book in every backpack.
SEFCU, CDPHP and the City of Albany are the program’s primary sponsors.
“We are grateful to our partners for helping to feed some of Albany’s neediest children”, said HATAS Executive Director Liz Hitt. “We are humbled by their generosity and by their selfless devotion to the well-being of our community.”
For more information about the Feed and Read Program, or to find out how you can help, please visit http://hatas.org/programs/weekend-backpack-program/.
You also can check out more photos on Facebook. (You don't need a Facebook account to view the pictures. A window may display the text, "To see more from Albany City Schools on Facebook, log in or create an account," but you can dismiss it by clicking “not now.”)
The mission of the City School District of Albany is to educate and prepare all students for college and career, citizenship and life, in partnership with our diverse community. The district serves nearly 9,700 students in 18 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students, including four themed academies at Albany High School.
