One of our key initiatives in 2012 is a brand new effort to help
Urban Youth Impact (UYI) launch their
Food in a Backpack Program, which sends some of the most needy inner-city kids that UYI serves home with healthy, organic fruits, vegetables, canned and dry goods for the weekend. For many of these inner-city children, nutritious meals are hard to come by. Often times their most nutritious meals throughout the week come from their school lunch program, or perhaps a healthy snack that UYI is able to offer them as part of the after school program. On the weekends, these kids are frequently left alone, or their families simply have little to no money to buy nutritious foods. In response to this need, we are partnering with UYI to help them continue giving to these kids, even when they are away from the after-school program on weekends. The goal is to send as many of these needy kids home with healthy foods that will help nourish them throughout the weekend. The Food in a Backpack Program will provide UYI with a very tangible and impactful new way to show God’s love to the kids and families they serve. In addition to meeting an immediate need, our desire is that this initiative would begin to set the stage for teaching the UYI children the importance of making healthy food choices in life, particularly in the midst of a community prone to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
