BOISE, Idaho — The Meridian Food Bank is working to ensure students in the West Valley School District do not go hungry on weekends.
Every Tuesday, volunteers with the Backpack Program pack hundreds of grocery bags filled with meals for students to take home for the weekend.
"We have over 30 or 35 volunteers that just come in weekly to do this," Volunteer JayDee Hansen said. "It ranges from like little kids to teenagers to adults, and it's so amazing to see how many people are willing to show up for this, and just be able to see the amount of growth that has just come out of this program is amazing."
Hansen started volunteering more than a decade ago when he was looking for a service project during middle school. He now helps run the program, which has more than doubled in size since it started about 15 years ago.
They used to pack about 300 meals each week, he said.
"It's helping out so many more people than we could ever imagine," Hansen said. "Years ago, you couldn't have told me that we would do 800 backpacks."
Students in need receive at least two breakfasts, lunches and dinners. School counselors, like Ryan Newby at Meridian Middle School, help make sure every student who needs a grocery bag gets one each week.
All the meals are nonperishable and easy to make since some students may be alone or have minimal parental oversight on weekends.
"We give them out Friday and make hundreds of kids across the district happy each weekend that they have something to eat and know they're going to make it and know they're loved and taken care of," Newby said.
Buffy Roberts, West Ada School District director of instruction, said the district is very grateful for the program. She said the numbers continue to grow as more people move to the area.
Some families who previously could have afforded groceries are also needing more help, she said.
"The cost of living has changed so much," she said, "that even though families that at one time may have been able to live here, the cost of living has changed so much that they're needing that extra support. The weekend Backpack Program is a great way for the families to ask for that extra request and that extra support for their kids."
Newby echoed a similar sentiment. He said food for children and teenagers should be a right and not a privilege.
"The weekend food backpack does a great, great job of filling that gap over the weekend so that our kids can eat, and they can have their basic needs met, and they can do their best socially, emotionally and cognitively here at school," he said.
The Food Bank said the best way for community members to help with the program is to donate money because they buy most of the food in bulk. They also always need volunteers.