The Baker City Backpack Program was started during the 2010/2011 school year by the First Presbyterian Church to help address food insecurity within the Baker City School District as well as the children attending Head Start. The Backpack Program provides needed food to children who would otherwise not have adequate access during the weekends. The school administrators, social workers and teachers select the students identified at the greatest risk for food insecurity, participants. The food is distributed at school to participating children in plastic shopping bags by their teachers or volunteers as they leave school on Thursday afternoons.

The program began as an outreach from the First Presbyterian Church Mission Committee and has now grown to become a community-wide program. Most of the volunteers do not attend First Presbyterian Church. The program continues to be led entirely by volunteers from throughout the community. Many of our volunteers are retired and have vast leadership experience. These people had careers in education, government, natural resources management, health care, and more. In addition, we established a community leadership committee whose role continues to be to expand the vision and outreach of this program to the community and generate the funds through their Fundraising Sub-Committee. These people bring a wealth of leadership experience and passion for our children in Baker County.

Few program facts:

• Provide a backpack for every student that has requested since inception. 2024 weekly count is between 205 and 212 backpacks
• Program is completely funded through individual donations from community members, community organizations, churches, and grants from foundations.
• For some participating children this backpack food is the only food they will have throughout the weekend. One school teacher reported not only does the food provide the needed nutrition, but it also helps create a safe environment for our school children.
• 100% of funds raised is used to buy food for children.