This Milwaukee-area nonprofit is tasked with providing more than 4,000 children with food each weekend. Here is how you can help.

Cathy Kozlowicz
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
To bridge the hunger gap, Blessings in a Backpack — a national nonprofit organization with local chapters — provides food to children for weekends.

To bridge the hunger gap so kids don't go hungry on weekends, Blessings in a Backpack — a national nonprofit organization with local chapters in the Milwaukee area— needs your help.

The organization is tasked with providing food for more than 4,000 children with food each weekend for the school year.

Each Friday, volunteers at local chapters of Blessings in a Backpack distribute food for children to take home for the weekend.

"Our food is discreetly placed in the backpacks of the kids in our program, thus the name, Blessings in a Backpack," said Rebecca Melgares, board president and interim managing director of Blessings in a Backpack Waukesha County.

Melgares said the food needs to be shelf stable, so it  doesn't need refrigeration or special equipment, such as a can opener, to prepare. She also said the food needs to be nutritious.  

Children who are on the free and reduced lunch program qualify to receive a backpack with food, but social workers can also recommend or refer other children to the program. 

There are three local chapters for Blessings in a Backpack: Waukesha County, Menomonee Falls and Brown Deer. The Waukesha County chapter covers food at 35 locations and serves 3,600 children each week. This chapter includes school districts in Waukesha, Oconomowoc, the Kettle Moraine and the Hartland-Lakeside school districts. For now, the focus is on elementary schools, Melgares said. 

She said Blessings in a Backpack will celebrate 10 years this year.

More:Here's how you can get free school supplies for the coming year in the Milwaukee area, or donate items to help others

More:A Brookfield woman is the unsung hero in helping keeping children fed through the Menomonee Falls chapter of Blessings in a Backpack

The Menomonee Falls Chapter, which is in its ninth year, covers 85 children in four of the district's elementary schools.

The Brown Deer Chapter covers about 270 children at Brown Deer Elementary School. 

The Brown Deer chapter just completed its first year, said Angel Marti, the chapter's coordinator. The chapter grew out of a desire by her church, Rise MKE Church, to support the school. 

"We were told, 'Our kids our hungry,'" she said. Some of the kids didn't want to go home, as there wasn't enough food there; one of the bus drivers would bring food for the kids so they wouldn't go hungry, she added.

"We felt we really needed to focus on feeding these kids," she said.

Blessings in a Backpack Waukesha County has been expanding each year, Melgares said. "Last year, we expanded by 60%," she noted.

She said the group is considering serving additional communities, but is first looking at expanding to some of the middle and high schools for the communities it already serves.

Melgares said she became involved in Blessings in a Backpack to give her children and herself a place to volunteer so her children realize more about the hunger problem. 

Ways to donate

Blessings in a Backpack relies on cash or monetary donations since it has specific nutritional requirements and needs food that is shelf stable.

If a group wants to do a food drive, it is encouraged to contact the local chapter to work out details.

To donate to Blessings in a Backpack Waukesha County, send a check made out to Blessings in a Backpack Waukesha Chapter, to 2010 Springdale Road, Waukesha, WI 53186 or donate online at waukesha.blessingsinabackpack.org/ways-to-donate

To donate to Blessings in a Backpack for Menomonee Falls, send checks to Blessings in a Backpack, Menomonee Falls Chapter 1460, P.O. Box 950291, Louisville, KY 40295.

To donate to Blessings in a Backpack for Brown Deer, visit www.blessingsinabackpack.org/brown-deer or contact Marti at 414-403-8375 or angelicmarti@yahoo.com

Bridge the Gap fundraiser

Blessings in a Backpack Waukesha County is planning a Bridge the Gap gala fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m Oct. 13 at the Brookfield Conference Center, 325 S. Moorland Road, Brookfield. Ticket information is not yet available. For more information, including ticket info when it becomes available, visit www.facebook.com/BlessingsInABackpackWaukeshaCounty.

Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or cathy.kozlowicz@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @kozlowicz_cathy.