5 Organizations Feeding Black Students During Breaks

Picture this: A bright-eyed kid tries to focus in class, but their stomach growls so loud it drowns out the teacher’s lesson. This isn’t just a random scene — without free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch provided by schools, it can be the reality for too many Black students across the United States.

Nearly 30 million students nationwide rely on free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch through school meal programs. And a 2023 report from Feeding America found that nearly one-third of Black children lived in food-insecure households.

So what happens during the holidays when these students don’t have access to school-provided meals? Fortunately, several national and local organizations have stepped up to ensure these students don’t go hungry during Thanksgiving and winter break.

“Getting enough food is an important first step to ensuring kids can achieve their goals,” Feeding America said on its website. Indeed, food insecurity isn’t just about missing a meal. It’s been linked to frequent illnesses that eventually lead to poor academic outcomes for students, such as lower reading and math test performances, decreased concentration, and increased behavior problems. “When children have enough food, they can concentrate on important things like doing well in school, playing sports, and graduating,” Feeding America pointed out.

Here are five organizations that ensure students have food during school breaks:

1. The BackPack Program

The BackPack Program, one of Feeding America’s initiatives, provides families with a backpacks-worth of free groceries for weekends and school breaks. These backpacks include healthy, easy-to-prepare food like bread, fruit, and snacks. The program, with over 10,000 locations in the United States, also partners with schools and community centers like the Boys and Girls Clubs to help distribute backpacks to kids. Find your local BackPack food distributor by visiting the initiative’s website.

2. School Food Pantry Program

Also operating under Feeding America in nearly 4,000 locations, the School Food Pantry Program provides free food pantries within or near schools. Working with food banks, community organizations, and school administrators, the program offers the option to receive items in pre-packed boxes or through in-person shopping, where students and families can pick up what they want. Find your local SFPP bank by visiting the program’s website.

3. Blessings in a Backpack

Blessings in a Backpack is a nationally recognized charitable organization that provides food on the weekends to thousands of children nationwide. With seven regional chapters and more than 1,200 community-driven initiatives, the program aims to prevent hunger during weekends and school breaks by providing meals and healthy-conscious foods for the kids who need them the most. To find your local Blessings in a Backpack program, please visit their chapter’s website.

4. Urban Libraries Council and Food Security Initiative

In 2023, The Urban Libraries Council, in partnership with 20 libraries nationwide, published a report advocating for more libraries to support food-insecure children and their families, especially during school breaks. The report helped raise awareness about child hunger and led to more library-based food efforts in several states: Maryland, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. To learn more about current UJC-partnered libraries and their food-based programs and initiatives, please visit the initiative’s website.

5. Operation Turkey

Operation Turkey is a 100% volunteer-driven organization that prepares and provides warm meals to those in need on Thanksgiving Day. With over 40,000 volunteers nationwide, the organization operates in multiple cities and collaborates with local communities to ensure that individuals, including students, receive meals during the holiday. To find your local OP, please visit the organization’s web page.