Fill a child’s backpack with hope.

Your $25 gift delivers meals to a hungry child in BC this Friday and $85 provides the food they need for spring break.

DONATE NOW

33%

of BC children face food insecurity

+1,500

hungry kids are on the
Backpack Buddies waitlist

The Weekend Hunger Gap

The ever-increasing cost of rent, household expenses and childcare has created an affordability emergency, and it has hit children the hardest. 

From the last bell on Friday until school starts on Monday, thousands of BC kids who count on school meals programs during the week face a weekend hunger gap.

Backpack Buddies fills this gap with food for the weekend: bags with 8 ready-to-eat meals, snacks, and fresh produce are tucked into backpacks as kids head home every Friday.

Schools quietly identify students who need help, volunteers fill the bags of food in our warehouses, and delivery trucks transport thousands of bags of food to nearly 400 BC schools every week.

Every $25 covers one child’s meals for the entire weekend and brings us closer to our goal of providing food for 6,800 children this year.

Hunger Doesn’t Take a Spring Break

While many families are packing for vacations, thousands of children across B.C. are facing something very different. When schools close for Spring Break, the two-day weekend hunger gap suddenly becomes a 16-day stretch without consistent meals – a long time for children who rely on school meal programs during the week and Backpack Buddies on the weekend. 

Backpack Buddies is launching a program with huge potential to help fill this gap. A Spring Break program is now being piloted with over 1200 children in BC, providing the food they need during the two-week break. 

This is just the beginning. With community support, we can ensure that school breaks don’t mean empty cupboards for children who already face hunger at home.

Backpack Buddies

Born in North Vancouver in 2012, Backpack Buddies is now a province-wide team with thousands of parents, teachers, truck drivers, donors, volunteers, food producers, and partners who are stepping up to make sure BC’s most vulnerable children don’t have to worry about empty cupboards at home.

From our warehouses in North Vancouver and Victoria, we source food, marshal hundreds of volunteers to pack bags of food, and work hand-in-hand with schools so every child’s food delivery is discreetly and stigma free.

Your Impact

Your donation helps ensure thousands of children have food they can rely on – helping fill the weekend and school break hunger gaps.

Every online donation goes towards:

Food

Hearty meals, fresh fruit & veggies, milk, nutritious snacks, and more – easily accessible food for growing kids.

Logistics & Transportation

Over 1 million pounds of food moved through our warehouses and on our trucks last year

School & Community Outreach

Building our network of Buddies so more kids get the food they need

Stories of Hope

Backpack Buddies

was there through difficult times

“At the grocery store, I would only have enough for bread or milk. I would sit outside the store crying, thinking, how am I going to feed my kids? When we received Backpack Buddies, it took that weight off . . . knowing somebody is willing to see that kids need help.” 

– Allison, Backpack Buddies Mom of 3

Some of our kids

only eat when they’re at school

“Some of our kids only eat when they’re at school. There’s not much assurance of where their next meal is coming from. It’s clear that the bags of food from Backpack Buddies have been carefully put together to take into account the situations our students live in.”

– Robert Schumann, Teacher at the Surrey School’s FOCUS-TREK program for vulnerable teenagers

These kids’ remind me

so much of my own childhood

“I joined Backpack Buddies as a monthly donor after I heard an ad on the radio. The kids’ Backpack Buddies helps remind me so much of my own experience as a kid. These are kids who are hungry all the time. But, together, we can help. Whatever your story, I know you’ll agree with me when I say that no child should go hungry.” 

– Jeff, Member of Backpack Buddies Friday Club

Support Backpack Buddies

Every gift brings us one step closer to ensuring every hungry child in BC has the food they need to learn and grow

Become a Monthly Donor

Provide food for a child that they can count on every weekend all year, giving them the stability they need to thrive.

Give Monthly

Give One Time

Every gift matters! Your one-time donation today helps ensure children have food they can rely on.

Donate Now

Frequently Asked Questions

From our perspective, all of it does. When you make a $25 donation, $13 pays for food; $7.35 pays for the warehouse, vehicles, and people that get the food into the hands of children; $4.15 helps to engage with schools and the community so we can help even more children; and $0.50 makes sure we fulfill our responsibilities like providing tax receipts and managing our finances properly. We make sure that every dollar provides food security for children in our program today and helps us reach more children across BC every year.

Yes! Our Canadian charitable number is: 837443233 RR0001. We are officially called Community First Foundation and we do business as Backpack Buddies.

Yes you can. On the donation form, simply choose the region from the drop-down menu and your donation will provide food for children in that area.

At any time you can reach our Donor Relations team to adjust your monthly gift at info@backpackbuddies.ca or 604-807-0347. We are here to help. Or, if you still have the original email you received after joining the Friday Club, follow the “Cancel Your Gift” link to simply stop your monthly transactions.