National Life Group Foundation announced their continued support of the Vermont Foodbank BackPack Program with a $25,000 grant.

In October 2008, the Foodbank launched the weekend nutrition program for school-aged children at a handful of schools around Vermont. Now in its seventh year, the BackPack Program is a nationally-recognized program of Feeding America and is designed to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources, like school breakfast and lunch, are not available on weekends and school vacations.

This year the BackPack Program provides weekly food packages to 1,000 children at 24 Vermont schools. Packages contain about eight food items such as canned fruit and veggies, cereal, milk, cheese, soup, etc. This year’s support from National Life Group Foundation will cover the program costs for 117 food-insecure kids across Vermont.

“Feeding children during out-of-school times is essential to the mission of the Foodbank,” said John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO. “Our children are our most valuable resource and ensuring every child has access to healthy food is paramount to their health and development, their readiness to learn, and our success in ensuring that no one in Vermont goes hungry.”

“Supporting children and families goes to the heart of what we do,” said Beth Rusnock, president of the National Life Group Foundation. “So we’re proud to partner with the Vermont Foodbank to help make our community a better place to live.”

A supporter of the Foodbank for nearly three decades, this is the third year the National Life Group Foundation has supported the BackPack Program. This year’s grant is the largest and brings the three year total to $60,000.