[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-404809-105":59,"doc-detail-404809-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","weekend-backpack-program-toolkit","WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM TOOLKIT","","Weekend Backpack Program Toolkit supports communities in Massachusetts to launch a weekend food program for students facing food insecurity. It explains what the program is, why it matters for health and academic outcomes, and provides a practical roadmap from determining local need to getting started. The toolkit includes guidance on funding, food procurement, menus, logistics, assessments, and forms, along with references for data and directions for connecting with local food banks or pantries and other key partners.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/weekend-backpack-program-toolkit/404809/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/weekend-backpack-program-toolkit/404809.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Terk","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-07","2026-09-27",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What problem does a Weekend Backpack Program address?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It provides students with food to take home discreetly on Fridays so they are well fed over the weekend and can return to school ready to learn. The program targets students at risk of food insecurity.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How can a school determine whether it needs a Weekend Backpack Program?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Assess the number of students who qualify for free/reduced price school meals, or request information through Project Bread’s Child Nutrition Outreach Program. The toolkit also notes how Massachusetts may use the category “economically disadvantaged” as another data point.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What topics does the Toolkit cover to help communities start a program?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"It provides background and step-by-step guidance, including funding, food procurement, menu planning, logistics, assessments, and sample forms, plus ways to connect with local food banks or pantries and other partners.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},404809,1790815244,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146,"preview_page_count":4},1099525198933,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM TOOLKIT  \nEverything you need to start a Weekend Backpack Program in your Massachusetts community  \nWelcome  \nSo you are interested in starting a Weekend Backpack Program in your community? We can help!  \nI founded the Cambridge Weekend Backpack Program in 2013 and joined Food For Free, along with the program, in 2016. During that time, I have mentored teams in many communities to help them get started, too. The Food For Free team has put together this guide to help make it easier for other communities to start their own Weekend Backpack Programs. In this Toolkit, you’ll find everything you need to know to get started.  \nWe want to express a heartfelt note of gratitude to Hunger Free Colorado for providing the groundwork for this Massachusetts based Toolkit. Many of us who have started Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts have used this valuable resource and are grateful to them for their work in this area.  \nAlanna Mallon  \nFounder, the Cambridge Weekend Backpack Program Food For Free’s K-12 Strategic Advisor  \nTable of Contents  \nWhat is a Weekend Backpack Program? 4  \nHow to start a program in your community 5  \nDetermining need 6  \nGetting started 7  \nFunding 8  \nFood procurement 11  \nMenus 12  \nLogistics 13  \nAssessments 14  \nForms 15  \nWeekend Backpack Program Toolkit  \n3  \nWhat is a Weekend Backpack Program?  \nIn Massachusetts, over 440,000 students qualify for free/reduced price school meals, and 1 in 5 children are considered food insecure. Our most at risk students for food insecurity are also the ones who are most affected by the achievement gap, and poor academic outcomes that can have lifelong effects. These students rely on their school cafeterias for the majority of their nutrition during the week. These supports do not exist over the weekend, so many school districts have Weekend Backpack Programs. Weekend Backpack Programs send food home discreetly on Fridays to ensure students are well fed over the weekend and can come in Monday mornings, ready to learn.  \nWeekend Backpack Programs are not a new idea. The first one was founded in 1995 by a school nurse in Little Rock, Arkansas who noticed that students often came to her office on Mondays complaining of stomach aches and headaches, and realized that many of these students ate little to no food over the weekend. She partnered with her local food bank, the Arkansas Rice Depot, and started sending groceries home in their backpacks on Fridays to combat the issue and noticed a  \nchange in behavior right away  \nSince then, Weekend Backpack Programs have proliferated nationally, and have been shown to decrease absenteeism, behavioral trips to the principal’s office, and trips the school nurse for hunger related ailments.  \nAll of these factors lead to more instructional time in the classroom for students, which lead to better academic outcomes for children living in poverty. This is a powerful argument to make when speaking with school administration about the need for a program in your school or district.  \nWeekend Backpack Program Toolkit  \n4  \nHow to Start a Program in Your Community  \nAs of 2019, there are over 30 Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts, and more cities and towns are adding them each year as awareness grows about their efficacy in providing a critical resource to our students.  \nWe created this Toolkit to provide background, steps to take to start a Weekend Backpack Program, forms and assessment sample documents, how to connect with your local food bank or pantry, fiscal agency, fundraising, and everything else you need to create a successful Weekend Backpack Program.  \nStatewide 46% of students qualify for free and reduced price school meals. Source: Report-“Ending Hunger in our Classrooms-First annual report”EOS Foundation & Children’s Healthwatch  \nIn 2017, the food insecurity rate in Massachusetts was 27% higher than it was  \n10 years ago.  \nSource: Project Bread“Get the Facts”  \nWeekend Backpack Program Toolkit  \n5  ","cbCaihdocYfQri5f","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihdocYfQri5f","pdf",1973686,21,"English","# What is a Weekend Backpack Program?\n## How it works and why it matters\n# How to start a program in your community\n## Determining need\n## Getting started\n## Funding\n## Food procurement\n## Menus\n## Logistics\n## Assessments\n## Forms","[{\"question\":\"What problem does a Weekend Backpack Program address?\",\"answer\":\"It provides students with food to take home discreetly on Fridays so they are well fed over the weekend and can return to school ready to learn. The program targets students at risk of food insecurity.\"},{\"question\":\"How can a school determine whether it needs a Weekend Backpack Program?\",\"answer\":\"Assess the number of students who qualify for free/reduced price school meals, or request information through Project Bread’s Child Nutrition Outreach Program. The toolkit also notes how Massachusetts may use the category “economically disadvantaged” as another data point.\"},{\"question\":\"What topics does the Toolkit cover to help communities start a program?\",\"answer\":\"It provides background and step-by-step guidance, including funding, food procurement, menu planning, logistics, assessments, and sample forms, plus ways to connect with local food banks or pantries and other partners.\"}]","WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM TOOLKIT | PDF",1790550926,53]