TYLER, Texas — Editor's note: This video is from August 2020.
Through the purchase of a cookie or brownie this week at Chick-fil-A, customers will be able to help East Texas children facing hunger.
Starting Monday, 15 Chick-fil-A locations will host Baked Goods for Backpacks until this Saturday to benefit the East Texas Food Bank. The purchase of a cookie or brownie will result in a donation to the food bank's child hunger initiative, the BackPack program.
Participating Chick-fil- A locations include those in Tyler, Lindale- North Tyler, Lufkin, Texarkana, Palestine, Nacogdoches, Kilgore and Jacksonville.
According to ETFB, the BackPack program's purpose is to close the weekend hunger gap for children who may be on free and reduced lunch but face hunger on the weekends or holidays.
Staff and faculty at the schools recommend which kids join the program based on a need assessment. On Fridays, students who are in the program receive a backpack filled with nutritious, kid-friendly items (fruit, juice, cereal bars and shelf-stable milk) to help the kids until Monday morning, according to the food bank.
"Our children are precious and our young people are our greatest asset for the future of East Texas. Our community can only thrive if they thrive," said Dennis Cullinane, CEO for the East Texas Food Bank. "The East Texas Food Bank continues to serve one of the highest child food insecurity rates in Texas. We are grateful to Chick-fil-A for being such a valuable partner in fighting hunger in East Texas, and the Baked Goods for BackPacks will help provide food to close the gap for children with our BackPack program."
The food bank states that over 182,000 backpacks were distributed in the 2020 – 2021 school year at 149 partner school sites. Because of the program, 8,000 children received help this past school year.