About Us
kidsPACK IS BASED ON A SIMPLE PRINCIPLE – ACTION.
No Child Goes Hungry
By Cindy S. Adams
There are disadvantaged children all around us that go hungry every day. We just don’t often hear about them. Are we completely unaware of the crisis? While subsidized school breakfast and lunch programs are in place during school hours, what happens at mealtime for these very same children evenings, weekends and over the summer months? kidsPACK strives to bridge that gap by simply taking action.
Randy Browning founded KidsPACK following a long history of charitable volunteer work with the Salvation Army, United Way and Project Care Outreach, as well as several other charitable organizations. The formation of kidsPACK was inspired after learning of the growing number of homeless children suffering hunger and threatened by hopelessness in our neighborhoods. For Browning, the heartfelt calling to help is simple, build a solution to help children and the people in the community will come to the rescue. “I started kidsPACK for one reason – to feed kids. kidsPACK is the direction in my life and an answer to why I am here”, stated Browning.
With a mission to help make sure that no child goes hungry kidsPACK is a non-profit organization supported by local community leaders and volunteers such are committed to improving the lives and opportunities of children. When this initiative was started before the 2011-2012 school year, they fed 449 homeless or hungry children in 31 Polk County public schools. In the 2012-2013 school year, the project expanded their program to include Hillsborough and Hardee County, where they have been approved by local public school administration and oversight. Today, the project is in all three counties, Polk, Hillsborough and Hardee where they have fed more than 1700 children in 73 different schools.
Today, well over seven thousand registered homeless, hungry children attend our local county schools here in the Heartland. Broken down, this enormous number translates as one in every five children in our communities, and counties throughout Florida, suffering from a severe lack of food. This is an extremely real and devastating issue in our local communities, and we need your help to rectify it.
To receive approval for the program, children are identified by the school or administration. The children must either be registered within the homeless division of the school district or has been identified by a school administrator or teacher as coming to school unprepared to learn because they have not eaten. Once the need is identified, approval is based on funding availability and a child will not be added unless funding is available for the entire school year. Although funding is sometimes limited, kidsPACK will make every effort to feed every child identified
An everyday backpack is turned into a food transportation module stocked with nutritious, child-friendly and easy to prepare food for children to eat over the weekend and times when they are away from school. We pack non-perishable containerized items like ravioli, fruit cups, trail mix and portable snacks like granola bars and pop-tarts.
If you want to make an impact in your community, kidsPACK is looking to increase the number served of children this year and would appreciate your support through food donations or your time as a volunteer. All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. If you would like to bring the kidsPACK program to the schools in your community, please email [email protected].
Our Mission
Our mission is to improve the lives and restore a basic level of dignity for less fortunate children in Polk County and beyond.
Our Vision
kidsPACK is a non-profit organization supported by community leaders, corporate sponsors and volunteers dedicated to feeding disadvantaged children; giving them a backpack of nutritious food each Friday to sustain them on weekends when they do not have access to subsidized school meals.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to energize the community to impact the lives of children sparking a positive change . We extend children hope…
KIDSPACK IS BASED ON A SIMPLE PRINCIPLE – ACTION.
4K + Volunteers
10K + Children Fed
