Homeless Backpacks is a non-profit 501c3 corporation committed to ending homelessness by giving teens the help they need so they can focus on school and go on to graduate and become contributing citizens.

They provide food for the weekend to homeless teens in Thurston County. Some teens are in government-supported meal programs during the school day, but are on their own during the weekends. Each week, volunteers deliver food bags to local middle and high schools, as well as all schools in Yelm, Rainier, Tenino and Rochester.

Each bag has enough food for the weekend, including macaroni & cheese, tuna, ravioli, ramen noodles, chili, fruit cups, granola bars, oatmeal, juice boxes, chocolate milk and assorted snacks. Students go to the counselor or nurse’s office and obtain the food. Bags fit easily into backpacks so other students will not know they are part of our program. Each bag costs $8 – $9 per week to fill.

With your continued support, we were so pleased to be able to make a recent donation of $5,000 to the program. That’s enough money to feed 625 students for a week! We live in such an amazing community and are so thankful for your involvement and support to make gifts like this possible.

Learn more about our mission

  

Members of TwinStar Community Foundation with their generous donation to Homeless Backpacks that fed over 400 students!