Children all over the state will be returning to school in a few weeks. While most kids are shopping for new clothes and school supplies, some are worried about where their next meal will come from. 

Backpack Buddies is a non-profit organization formed in 2013 to provide meals for children to take home when they leave school every Friday. An estimated 5,000 children in St. Clair County leave school each week not expecting to eat until they return to school. Joe and Sheilah Vic started Backpack Buddies to fill the gap.

“We went to visit our granddaughter’s school for Grandparents Day,” Joe Vic told the Pell City Kiwanis Club at their monthly meeting. “We stopped and looked around to contrast the kids that were eating and the kids that were not. After the kids were finished, some were throwing away whole apples, and we could see kids that really wanted to take those (apples) home. It broke our hearts to think about how many children are going hungry.”

The program began with providing food to two children at one elementary school in September 2013. Bags of food, including non-perishable food and snacks, are discreetly placed into the children’s backpacks each Friday so they would have food to eat over the weekend. 

Today, the program feeds an estimated 650 children per week in a total of 25 schools in St. Clair County. 

Each bag of food contains pop-top meals (canned soup, etc.,) juice boxes, fruit cups, granola bars, peanut butter or cheese crackers, one complete meal, as well as several nutritional items to equal 2000 calories per day. Bags cost an estimated five dollars each, so the cost to feed each child is $20 per month and $200 for the school year.

Backpack Buddies partners with local churches to ensure that children are fed through the summer, but they are always taking donations to prepare for the upcoming school year. 

“This is a bittersweet ministry,” Joe Vic said. “I can remember almost falling apart in the grocery store knowing that this can of vegetables might be the only thing (the children) get to eat. It’s hard to understand that every week in Pell City, over 100 kids don’t have food on the weekends. I was ignorant because I ignored the situation.”

Joe and Sheilah Vic and a group of volunteers pack and deliver 23,000 bags of food for children throughout each school year. Currently, they Backpack Buddies work with all 16 St. Clair County Schools, five schools in Pell City, and four schools in Leeds. But they are always looking to expand. 

 “I feel like we are just scratching the surface,” Joe Vic stated. “Most of the money for Pell City schools comes from outside of the area. We would love to see Pell City sponsoring Pell City children.”

 His wife, co-founder of Backpack Buddies Sheilah Vic added, “We don’t limit the amount of bags that we deliver. If a child has siblings in other schools or younger siblings at home, we want to make sure they have enough food.”

The program is available to children from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Children on the program are identified by principals, counselors and teachers. Most receive a free or reduced lunch. Children are screened for food allergies and then receive a bag that is discreetly placed in their backpack each Friday.  They also receive a bag of hygiene items three times a year, and extra food bags are placed in their backpacks over holidays. 

“We continually get feedback from teachers and parents of the difference this ministry is making or has made in the lives of these children,” Sheilah Vic said. “Improved attitudes, grades and wellness are only a few of the comments we receive.”

To learn more about the Backpack Buddies or to donate visit www.stclairbuddies.org or mail monetary donations to Backpack Buddies, 7324 Parkway Drive, Leeds, AL 35074.