There are some shocking statistics about childhood hunger in America. Like how 1 in 6 children live with hunger.

Here’s another number: 72 hours.

How would you feel about going without a meal for 72 hours straight? Would you think about it every day? Would it increase your stress levels? Would you struggle to concentrate on other things?

Many children on Long Island get school lunch on Friday knowing they won’t get another meal until they come back to school on Monday morning.

72 hours.

Can you imagine what that’s like? What if you’re a parent working two or three part-time jobs and there still isn’t enough money to feed your child every day?

Agape Meals for Kids provides a very simple solution to this unacceptable situation. We give children a backpack every Friday that has enough food to ensure they eat every weekend meal. And we repeat this every Friday.

What’s the impact?

We know that hunger affects every aspect of a child’s life and its damaging effects can alter the child’s lifetime trajectory. The relationship between hunger, health, and learning is indisputable.

We also know that the constant stress of hunger harms children’s psychological development and puts them at higher risk of chronic mental health issues. Receiving a backpack of meals changes this.

Studies have shown that when a child experiencing food insecurity knows that there’s enough food to eat, they experience less distress, are better able to concentrate in school, and can even sleep better.

And we know that parents and caregivers who are struggling in so many ways have one less thing to worry about when their children come home with food for the weekend.

150. That’s the number of backpacks we’re currently filling every week.

70,000. The number of children on Long Island who are going hungry every weekend.

With your help, we can increase the number of backpacks we hand out and decrease the number of children going hungry every weekend.

Will you join us?