Cambria County program to offer free meals to kids during 2024-25 school year

CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Cambria County Backpack Project provides weekend meals to over 500 children in the county who suffer from chronic food insecurity.

Applications for the 2024-25 school year are now open and you can apply here . Each week the project supplies children in need with six nutrition ready-to-eat meals to keep them fed over the weekend.

The project is entirely funded by grants and donations. It’s their mission to help reduce childhood hunger in Cambria County.

There are a few guidelines that children have to follow in the program:

• All recipients are expected to transport their weekly bag of food home inside of a backpack, gym bag, or duffel bag.
• All recipients are expected not to open their bag of food until they are at home. Bags are not to be opened on a bus or on the way home from school.
• All recipients are expected not to share the contents of their bags with friends or other students. The food is strictly for your child(ren).

Need food during the summer?

The Cambria County Backpack Project recognizes that kids aren’t just struggling with hunger during the school season. Every Thursday they also provide free food to kids, from preschoolers to 18-year-olds, at the Portage Public Library .

“The need keeps growing. We’re serving more and more children every year. And as we know it, the high cost of groceries, what our families are facing, and often, we hear of kids forgo a meal so their younger siblings can eat,” Kristen Villarrial, Executive Director for the Cambria County Backpack Project said.

They’ll be handing out meals there every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. until Aug. 1. They hand out meals on a first-come first-serve basis.

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If you’re in need of more resources you can use the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank resource finder to determine situations that work the best for you.

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