Back to school may be different this year, under the cloud of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools are working to ensure that children will remain safe as they head back to the learning environment, and many are opting to forego a return to the classroom for more socially distant digital learning at home. This year, the staff at Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV) did their part to make sure that kids starting school--at home or in the schoolroom--have plenty of nutritious food to promote the learning process by filling 100 backpacks with kid-friendly snacks and meals to donate to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. In addition to the backpacks, PBV also provided 100 refurbished e-tablets and chargers to the children and donated $5,000 to the Food Shuttle to support programs like those that combat child hunger.
“Inter-Faith Food Shuttle does amazing work for our community, and PBV is thankful to partner with them for this initiative. The enthusiasm around this project from our employees and their families was truly amazing – we had employees filling 5 to 6 backpacks themselves! There are enough new challenges facing children this upcoming school year, having something to eat shouldn’t be one of them. This is one small way we could help. We hope the kids enjoy the snacks and their tablet!” said Claire Niver, Senior Vice President of Pepsi Bottling Ventures Human Resources.
The backpacks and tablets will be distributed to families in The Oaks community in North Raleigh. The Oaks is a Raleigh Housing Authority Community serving over 170 individuals. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has enjoyed a long relationship with The Oaks community, through Mobile Markets, BackPack Buddies, Community Health Education nutrition classes, and more.
The Food Shuttle has partnered with Pepsi Bottling Ventures for the last few years to provide gifts to 100 families and seniors at Christmastime. That program is very popular with Pepsi employees and generates a good deal of enthusiasm and holiday cheer. In 2018, members of The Oaks community were the recipients of the Pepsi/Food Shuttle Christmas gift program.
In North Carolina, one in five children struggles with hunger. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle programs geared toward addressing the issue of child hunger include BackPack Buddies, School Pantries, Sprouts Scouts and serving families through activities such as Community Health Education and COVID-19 emergency response efforts.