As kids head back to school this month, we’ve been busy preparing for the school year too! Our two school programs are back: Super Snack Bins and Weekend Bags. These are two of the ways we partner with Hopkins & Minnetonka public schools to ensure that the kids in our community have enough to eat.
Super Snack Bins
Teachers and counselors pick up large plastic storage bins filled with healthy snacks to share with students in need. Kids receive these snacks when they haven’t had breakfast, as well as during and after school. Each bin contains around 300 snacks.
Last year we gave out 419 Snack Bins through this program!
Weekend Bags
When school staff know or suspect that students aren’t getting enough to eat on the weekends, they can send the student home with an ICA Weekend Bag. Small enough to discretely slide into a student’s backpack, each bag contains enough easy-to-prepare food to feed one child for a weekend, plus literature about ICA for the child’s caregiver. Our hope is that the family leaders will then come to the food shelf to get enough food for their entire family, including fresh fruit and vegetables, protein, and milk.
Last year we distributed 2,649 bags of food through this program!
Interested in supporting these programs?
Donate healthy, nut-free snacks or give financially today!
Donate here.
View our Current Needs list here.
"We have a second grader who is often in charge of getting herself up and to school. She rarely eats breakfast before she arrives, and we do not have a breakfast program at school.
I use ICA food to provide her breakfast (often milk or juice and a protein bar) and snacks every day.
We suspect that on some days this food is the only reason she gets herself to school."*
— Minnetonka Elementary School Social Worker
*Identifying details changed to protect privacy.