Kids Weekend Backpack Program
Feeding kids and making a long-term impact
68 hours. That’s how long a child in an underserved community may go without food over a weekend.
Many kids in the schools we serve struggle to eat between school lunch on Friday and breakfast on Monday. Our flagship program takes rescued food and turns it into nutritious frozen meals that are delivered directly to kids in need. Meals are delivered to schools where they are sent home with food-insecure children to fill that 68 hour gap. These kids return to school on Monday ready to focus on learning because the basic need of food has been taken care of!
What’s in the Meals?
Nutritious Food, Generosity and the Goodness of Others
Each lunch and dinner includes a protein, starch and a fresh or frozen (never canned) vegetable.
Each breakfast includes a protein, starch and fruit.
Every child receives a backpack including two breakfasts and four lunches/dinners that can be easily microwaved when the child is hungry.
Each meal is packaged by volunteers at Cultivate (over 1,431,024 to date).
The food in these meals is rescued from some of the best chefs in the community!
Cultivate safely rescues this excess food from collegiate athletic events, school and university cafeterias, catered events, and restaurants and repurposes it into backpack meals.
By the numbers
Key Statistics and Metrics
The Bad:
Children eligible for free and reduced lunch in our three counties
Children are living in poverty across these three counties
Billion pounds of food wasted in the United States annually
The Good:
School and Pantry Partners
Backpack School Partners
- Career Academy
- Charles Martin Youth Center
- Clay Church Pantry
- Clay Intermediate Academy
- Coquillard Elementary
- Darden Elementary
- Goodwill Excel Center
- Grissom Middle School
- Hannah’s House
- Harrison Elementary
- Health Linc
- Ivy Tech South Bend
- Kroc Center
- LaVille Elementary School
- Lifeline
- Madison STEAM Academy
- McKinley Elementary
- Monroe Primary Center
- Navarre Middle School
- Notre Dame Graduate School
- Nuner Fine Arts Academy
- Paramount School of Excellence
- Resurrection Lutheran Academy
- SALT Program
- SBCSC Adult Education
- St. Adalbert’s Elementary
- St. Joseph County Public Library
- Warren Primary Center
- Washington High School
- Wilson Primary Center
Cultivate Cares Food Network Partners
- Abundant Faith Family Ministries
- Aids Ministry
- Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
- Apostolic Temple Village
- Beacon Health System
- Briarcliff Health & Rehabilitation
- Brick of Hope Ministries
- Broadway Christian Parish
- Camp Millhouse
- Catholic Charities
- Center for the Homeless
- Christ Temple Apostolic Church
- Christ the King-St Vincent de Paul
- Clay Church Pantry
- Clubhouse of St Joseph County
- Davis Foundation
- Devine Faith Ministries
- Downtown Soup Kitchen
- El Campito Child Development Center
- Feed a Friend
- First United Methodist Church
- For the Good
- Gethsemane Church of God
- Greater New Jerusalem Mission Baptist Church
- Hannah’s House
- HEAL
- HealthLinc
- Heroes Camp
- Hope Avenue – Oaklawn
- Hope for the Hungry
- Hope Ministries
- Hopewell Baptist Church
- Indiana Health Center
- Ironwood Pentecostal Church Food Pantry
- IUSB – Titans Feeding Titans
- Ivy Tech/IPI School
- Keller Park Church
- Kingdom Business International Ministries
- Lakeville United Methodist Church
- Lasalle Park Homes
- Legacy Steps Pantry
- Life Treatment Center
- Lifeline Youth & Family Services
- Little Flower Catholic Church
- Lydick United Methodist Church
- Mac Food Pantry
- Maranatha Missionary Baptist Church
- Miami Hill Apartments
- Miami Village Church
- Michiana Christian Academy
- Miracle Life Foundation
- Mishawaka Food Pantry
- Motels 4 Now
- New Carlisle Food Pantry
- Northeast Neighborhood Center
- Oaklawn Properties – Oaklawn
- Oaklawn Psychiatric Center – Oaklawn
- Oliver Apartments – Oaklawn
- Our Lady of the Road
- Recovery Cafe – Oaklawn
- River Bend Cancer Services
- River Park United Methodist Church
- Robertson’s Apartments
- Robinson Community Learning Center
- Ronald McDonald House Charities
- Salvation Army – St Joseph/Kroc Center
- South Bend Housing Authority
- Southgate Food Pantry
- St Vincent de Paul – St Joseph Parish
- St. Adalbert & St. Casimir
- St. Augustine Catholic Church
- St Joseph County Health Dept – Mishawaka
- St Joseph County Health Dept – North East & West
- St Joseph County Health Dept – Rum Village
- St Joseph County Health Dept – Walkerton / N. Liberty
- St Joseph County Health Dept – West Side
- St Joseph County Public Library
- St. Margaret’s House
- St. Paul Bethel Missionary Baptist Church
- St. Paul Lutheran Church
- St. Paul’s Memorial Church
- St. Pius X Catholic Church
- St. Vincent de Paul Society Center
- Storehouse Food Pantry
- Take Heart Inc.
- The Grace Place
- Transformation Ministries
- The Walorski Family Foundation
- Village Food Pantry
- Vineyard Community Center
- West Side Church of Christ
- Youth Services Bureau of St Joe County
- YWCA
Backpack School Partners
- Baugo Community School
- Boys & Girls Club Goshen
- Bristol Elementary
- Chamberlain Elementary
- Child & Parent Services
- Cleveland Elementary School
- Concord South Side
- Concord West Side
- Eastwood Elementary
- Elkhart Academy
- Family Resource Center
- Goshen Health
- Goshen Intermediate School
- Goshen Junior High
- Heart City Health
- Mary Beck Elementary
- Mary Daly Elementary
- Mary Feeser Elementary
- Model Elementary
- Monger Elementary
- Nappanee Elementary
- North side Middle School
- Northwood Middle School
- PACE Preschool
- Parkside Elementary School
- Pierre Moran Middle School
- Prairie View Elementary School
- Premier Arts Academy
- Pride Academy
- Riverview Elementary
- Roosevelt STEAM Academy
- School Without Walls
- St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School
- Wakarusa Elementary
- Waterford Elementary
- West Goshen Elementary
- West Side Middle School
- Woodview Elementary
Cultivate Cares Food Network Partners
- Adult & Teen Challenge Northern Indiana
- Augusta Lutheran Church
- Boys & Girls Club Elkhart County
- Boys & Girls Club – Nappanee
- Boys & Girls Club – Goshen
- Brady Center
- Calvary United Methodist Church
- Church Community Services
- Elkhart Excel Center
- Elkhart Schools Art Café
- Goshen Interfaith Hospitality Network
- Gymtown Food Pantry
- Heart City Health
- Kingdom Community Center
- Kingdom Impact
- Maple Leaf Commons
- Middlebury Boys & Girls Club
- Middlebury Food Pantry
- Nappanee Open Door
- Open Gate Food Pantry
- Project Scope
- S.A.K.A.L the Center
- Salvation Army – Elkhart
- Salvation Army – Goshen
- Saving Grace
- Shepherd’s Cove (Calvary Assembly of God)
- SPA Ministries Homes
- Susanna’s Kitchen
- The Center
- The Hub Bristol
- The Village Community Center
- Tolson Center
- World Harvest Church
Backpack School Partners
- Argos Elementary
- Bremen High School
- Jefferson Elementary
- Marshall-Starke County Head Start
- Menominee Elementary
- St. Michael’s Catholic School
- Triton Elementary
- Washington Discovery Academy
- Webster Elementary
Cultivate Cares Food Network Partners
- Boys & Girls Club, Bremen
- Boys & Girls Club of Marshall County
- Bread of Life
- Community Services
- Culver Food Pantry
- David’s Courage
- DeLong Gospel Lighthouse Church
- Marian University’s Ancilla College
- Marshall County Neighborhood Center
- Monastery of the Holy Martyrs
- Moontree Studios
- Oak Haven
- Plymouth Baptist Church
- Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ
- Serenity House
- Shepherd’s Food Pantry Argos
*Don’t see your school on this list or want to know how to enroll a child in the program?
Contact your school’s administration or contact us here.
Testimonials:
Thank you for the frozen meals. My granddaughter uses them to easily fix herself a good nutritious meal. It is a wonderful program to use excess food, and to serve good meals for the students at their homes on the weekends. Thank you!
Thank you so much for working with the Wa-Née Community schools and Cultivate to provide my 3 children with 5 delicious meals each weekend during the covid pandemic while the schools were closed. It meant the world to our family to know that each Friday there would be 3 backpacks delivered to our front porch full of delicious and nutritious meals. I’m not sure how we could have done it without you. We can’t thank you enough to you and the volunteers that made this all possible.
The Cultivate meals are easy for me to grab after school, and just as easy for me to make at home for a meal. When our family is busy, it is easy for me to fix a good and healthy meal without having to go out and get something. There are many great meals to choose from. My favorite is the oatmeal with sausage. Thank you for making a variety of foods for families in our area to enjoy.
Cultivate has been an incredible blessing for our school. It’s hard to concentrate, behave and perform while hungry! Cultivate has removed barriers for our students in need. Each week, 35-40 of our students receive 6 high quality meals to take home with them. Our families are grateful for the extra support in this particularly difficult time.