Need Your Help to Provide Kid’s Backpacks Filled with Nutritious Meals

Each year that my son gets bigger I think about this. What would we do? Where would we go? I think so many of us say just get a job when you hear these stories but that's easier said than done. There's a process and it takes the amount of time most of us don't have. Your kids need to eat now.

I wanted to write a quick note for everyone wanting to help. Our friends at Mix 106 (Billy and Charene) are raising money for something called, "Backpack Buddies". I've watched the station do it for years but It begins to mean more when it impacts you. This doesn't mean any of us are insensitive, we just don't know. Having kids now I understand. Here's what you might not know.

80% of the people being helped have at least one full time employee in the household" - Heath Ribordy (Idaho Food Bank)

That shocked me. 1 in 6 kids are food insecure and suffer from lack of nutrition. I was speaking to Mary Ann Liby, Idaho Foodbank Nutrition Services Manager and she explained why this is important to her.

I was an immigrant at age 13 and people helped us in a difficult time. I wanted to make sure that one day I could be a part of something that gave back to the community that assisted us and help those families just like ours. You find that some families right now are dealing with a lot of chaos whether it's mental health issues or tragedy. Backpack Buddies provides kids mealsa and snacks for the weekend which gives these children a sense of comfort, consisten. They need to know they can rely on this each week.

It was cool sitting in the back watching the passion for helping families and this week the Idaho Food Bank needs to get backpacks filled with nutritious foods to these kids. I absolutely love these teams who dedicate their days and nights to making sure we as a community has food. Today it's about those kids, your kids.

I don't even want to go into how much I spend on needless things like sparkling waters, bananas, and coffee each week before the show. What do you spend a month on needless things and not to say coffee is one - I just mean be honest with yourself. Could you spare $25? Here's what it gets a kid.

$25 dollars a month will provide one child with a backpack filled with nutritious foods each weekend for the month. Drop $300 and support that child for the year. It will support kids with nutritious, kid-friendly food each Friday with easily prepared meals. There are so many families that rely on schools to educate, feed and watch over their children while they work 2-3 jobs. This is the reality.

I'll provide a link for you to throw a few dollars to help these kids and families. God bless the Idaho Food Bank, our friends at Mix and all these families in need.

You can directly call (208) 275-8806 and this goes until 6 p.m. tonight.