BackPack

Kids in Vermont can rely on a nourishing breakfast and lunch when they are at school, but when school is out, sometimes accessing food can be a challenge. One way communities are responding is by establishing BackPack and/or School Pantry programs that provide supplemental food to kids when school is not in session.

You don’t need to be an expert—just someone who cares.

Use these free guides to set up a successful backpack or school pantry in your community.

Supporting Students. Strengthening Communities.

Every child deserves to show up to school nourished, focused, and ready to learn. But for many families across Vermont and beyond, food insecurity makes that harder than it should be.

Whether you're a teacher who notices a student struggling, a parent who wants to help, or a community partner looking to support youth, these free tool kits are designed with you in mind. Developed by educators, food access experts, and community advocates, these step-by-step guides provide the tools and inspiration to start or strengthen school-based hunger-relief programs in your community.

All resources are free to download and use. Together, we can make sure no student goes hungry.

School Pantry Toolkit

A school pantry provides a dignified, welcoming space where students and families can pick up groceries and essentials right at school.

Toolkit Includes:

A step-by-step guide to planning, funding, and setting up a school pantry
Sample charter, budget, and survey templates
Best practices for food storage, equity, and sustainability

BackPack Program Toolkit

The BackPack Program sends students home with a discreet bag of food each weekend—ensuring they have enough to eat when school meals aren’t available.

Toolkit Includes:

Planning timelines and sample meeting agendas
Family interest survey and inventory tracking templates
Guidance on reducing stigma and building community trust

Honoring the Legacy of the BackPack Program

For over a decade, the BackPack Program has played a critical role in getting food into the hands of children who needed it most. Quietly and consistently, school staff and volunteers filled backpacks with meals and snacks to help bridge the gap over weekends—ensuring that students could return to school on Monday nourished and ready to learn.

This program has touched thousands of lives. It has been a labor of love from teachers, bus drivers, counselors, food bank staff, and community volunteers who believed that no child should ever go hungry.

As we prepare to sunset the BackPack Program by June 2027, we do so not because the need has disappeared—but because we believe in building solutions that are more community-driven, more flexible, and more sustainable for the long haul.

To support this next chapter, we’ve created a set of free toolkits that offer everything you need to start your own school-based food access program—whether that’s a pantry, a community-supported backpack model, or something brand new tailored to your school’s strengths.

We hope these resources honor the spirit of the BackPack Program while empowering you to create something rooted in the unique needs of your own community.

Learn More About the BackPack Program

Please Note: The BackPack program will be sunsetting in 2027. We are no longer accepting partners into this program.

How Does the BackPack Program Work?

Vermont Foodbank’s BackPack program provides children with kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare foods for weekends and school breaks during the school year. It is a supplemental food program in partnership with elementary schools across Vermont, and there are no income or eligibility requirements for participation. Check below to see if your school is a participating BackPack school.

BackPack food is sourced by Vermont Foodbank and then distributed to participating schools. School staff then work together to identify students who would benefit from the program. Throughout the school year, the food is discreetly distributed to students each week by their school’s site coordinator. Each pack has enough food for one child to have three meals over a weekend.

What Does Each Pack Include?

Each pack weighs about 3 pounds.
Items in the pack are kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare, shelf-stable, and relatively nutritious.
Each pack includes fruits and vegetables, grains, and protein.
Menus include two entrées, two fruit items, two snacks, one cereal, and one juice or milk.

Where Does BackPack Food Go?

At more than 30 schools across Vermont, approximately 1,200 kids will receive food bags each week through the BackPack program. In a year’s time, the Vermont Foodbank will provide approximately 42,000 packs, or 146,000 pounds of food, to participating students.

Is your elementary school part of the BackPack program? Check out our list of participating schools:
Academy Elementary School
Barre Town School
Barton Graded School
Bennington Elementary School
Berkshire Elementary School
Berlin Elementary School
Blue Mountain Union
Central Elementary School
Coventry Village School
Green Street School
Hardwick Elementary School
Lakeview Elementary School
Lunenberg School
Molly Stark Elementary School
Morristown Elementary School
Newport City School
Northeast Primary School
Northfield Elementary School
Northfield Middle & High School
Northwest Elementary School
Oak Grove School
Orleans Elementary School
Pownal Elementary School
Richford Elementary School
Soar Learning Center
Troy School
Waits River School
Washington Village School
Williamstown Elementary School
Winooski Elementary School
Woodbury Elementary School

Does Your School Participate in BackPack and You Want to Sign Up Your Child?

Please reach out to your school directly for more information.

Is Your School Not on the List?

Reach out to your school to let them know you are interested in having the BackPack program at your child’s school. Some schools run a backpack program independently from Vermont Foodbank.

The Vermont Foodbank BackPack Program is currently undergoing an assessment and new applications are not being accepted at this time. We ask that you please check back later for updates.

If you have any questions regarding the BackPack program, please contact Vermont Foodbank by emailing info@vermontfoodbank.org or calling 1-800-585-2265.

This program is made possible through the generous support of these organizations and companies: Ludcke Foundation, Rona Jaffe Foundation, National Life Group Charitable Foundation, Dealer.com, Joy in Childhood Foundation, Red Nose Day Fund of Comic Relief, Inc., Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Dead River Company, Turrell Fund, United Church of Hinesburg, Barre Lions Club, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Albertsons Companies Foundation, and Entertainment Industry Foundation.

What other food resources for youth and families are available?

You can always call 211 or visit vermont211.org to find out about local programs in your community, including free meal sites in the summer.

Additional Resources Available Statewide:

WIC
WIC is the USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. WIC provides food benefits, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, counseling and programs for pregnant Vermonters, parents and caregivers with children under 5.

3SquaresVT
SquaresVT is a federal program that boosts your monthly grocery budget. Vermont Foodbank's specialist team can share more information and help you apply. Check your eligibility by texting VFBSNAP to 85511, or calling our helpline 855-855-6181, or emailing 3SVT@vtfoodbank.org .

Looking for more child nutrition resources and programs for your schools? Check out Hunger Free VT's Child Nutrition Hub.