Start a Blessings in a Backpack Program
Age: 18 and up
Time Commitment: Year-round
Thank you for your interest in starting a Blessings in a Backpack program in Louisville!
Did you know that 54% of Blessings programs are led by volunteers (we call them program coordinators!)? If you’re committed to preventing weekend hunger for local children and have a few hours a week to dedicate to our mission, you’d be a perfect program coordinator candidate.
What is a Program Coordinator? It’s the lead volunteer of a Blessings in a Backpack program. We’ve bulleted a brief description of what’s involved to give you an idea of what goes into this volunteer position:
- Identifying a school partner in your community. To get started, go to schooldigger.com, a website that provides information on the number of children who qualify for free and reduced meals at their school. Or, you can contact Louisville Managing Director Kim Holsclaw, kimholsclaw@blessingsinabackpack.org, for further assistance.
- Raising money to support your program’s expenses. We’ll help you create a donate page for your program, and you can share the link with friends, family, colleagues, local businesses, etc.
- Recruiting a volunteer team to help you raise awareness and funding and help with food logistics. If you choose to pack food, you’ll also recruit individuals to help with that volunteer activity.
- Ordering and delivering food for weekly distribution. In Louisville, we partner with Sysco to deliver our food directly to the schools we serve. Our office also places the weekly food orders and pays the invoices.
We’ll provide tools for fundraising and marketing/promoting your program, and we’ll help you determine which food solution would be a great fit for your program. Plus, there’s a whole network of program coordinators to connect with!
Video: Volunteer program coordinator Trisha shares why she started a Blessings in a Backpack program in her community.