News : Operation Backpack T-shirt fund-raiser continues

Need a new t-shirt for your fall wardrobe? Think about purchasing a t-shirt to help support Operation Backpack. Download the order form here! Operation Backpack is a program in the Vinton-Shellsburg School District aiming to improve the health of district elementary students. Led by high school students, the program sends home bags of healthy food and snacks with children in kindergarten through fifth grade on a weekly basis. The food is intended solely for the student with which it is sent, and is not meant to supplement for family meals. Operation Backpack currently serves 95 students at Tilford and Shellsburg Elementary schools, ensuring they are able to come to school on a daily basis healthy and ready to learn.
Operation Backpack in Vinton-Shellsburg is an affiliate of HACAP Food Reservoir in Hiawatha, which services dozens of schools in the Cedar Rapids area. Most of the food distributed each month comes from HACAP, with some being donated from Pepsi/Quaker as well. As the program provides nearly 400 bags per month for students, it is very costly. Each bag costs approximately $6.00, and with 36 weeks in the school year the program is expected to cost upwards of $20,000.
Vinton-Shellsburg aims to ensure all students have the ability to be life-long learners, and Operation Backpack aims to ensure they are healthy.