"Can you even imagine having free or reduced price lunch at school on Friday...then going home and having no dinner that night, no breakfast, lunch or dinner on Saturday OR Sunday, and then returning to school on Monday morning...expected to be ready to learn? THAT is when you might begin to understand hunger."- Alice Prevatt, Founder, Upstate Backpack BlessingsAlice Prevatt witnessed this heartbreaking situation many times when she worked in a local middle school cafeteria. Inspired to make a real difference, she created Upstate Backpack Blessings (UBB) and began collecting donated food, organizing and packing it in her kitchen. She originally served three schools, but word spread and the program quickly grew.Upstate Backpack Blessings is a volunteer-based, donation-driven organization that now provides bags of food to nearly 200 students each week in the following elementary, middle and high schools:Elementary: Fork Shoals, Fountain Inn, Oakview, Plains and Taylors Middle: Bryson, Hughes, Hillcrest, Northwood, Riverside and Woodside High: Eastside and HillcrestAlice says that once a child starts with the program in elementary school

, if things don't change rather drastically at home, that weekly bag of food will more than likely accompany that student all the way through high school. Over 34,000 students in Greenville County Public Schools rely on free or reduced breakfasts and lunches while in school Monday through Friday. Students served by Upstate Backpack Blessings count on their weekend bags that they pick up on Friday afternoons as the leave school for the weekend, a critical time when they do not have access to school meals and often go without or have very little food.eberlestock gunslinger ii backpack reviewCan you even imagine hunger? best 50-60 liter backpackYou can make a very real and immediate difference in the lives of children by organizing a UBB Food Drive, volunteering in our Food Pantry or by donating funds toward the purchase of food.nait backpack

See allAdvent Backpack BlessingsDon't forget this awesome music event!! A collection will be taken to help support Advent Backpack Blessings!! Bring your family and friends! Advent UMC, 2258 Woodruff Road!Advent Backpack Blessings shared their photo.Don't forget this awesome musical event! Join us for Advent Community Christmas on Sunday! Two performances at 2pm & 5pm. Bring your friends and family!!Advent Backpack BlessingsPlease join us on December 11 for an amazing musical event! 90l backpack too bigThis is a free event for you and your loved ones to come and be filled with the Christmas spirit by... the many talents of Advent UMC! bbee backpackA collection will be taken to help support Advent Backpack Blessings so come and enjoy the wonderful music of the season and help support our backpack program! camelbak backpack nsn

Advent United Methodist Church 2258 Woodruff Rd Simpsonville, SC 29681"We are so grateful to our PARTNERSwho make this program possible."- Alice Prevatt, Upstate Backpack Blessings Founder PARTNERS Fountain Inn Presbyterian Church307 N Main St Fountain Inn, SC 29644(864) 862-3341Fountain Inn Presbyterian Church helps us by providing a room where we house our food pantry. New Hope Baptist Church509 South Main Street, Mauldin, SC 29662(864) 963-3547New Hope helps us by facilitating our financial donations.Some weeks, the Upstate Backpack Blessings' pantry shelves are so low that program founder Alice Prevatt can think of little else. With only hope and prayer, she sends out emails and Facebook messages asking for help in order to have food for the next week's bags. A woman of deep faith, she says, "God is good and He always provides!" Let's help her struggle less and provide more. Your donation can do just that.Alice was recently asked, "What is the #1 item you would like to have stocked in this pantry that you don't currently have?"

Her answer was simple -- individual shelf-stable cartons of white milk (like Yoohoo, but white, not chocolate -- for use in cereal, grits and oatmeal). She said it's difficult to find and can be expensive. The #2 item is individual boxes of cereal. She relies on cash donations to shop at Aldi, Save-A-Lot, Bi-Lo and other local grocery stores, as well as Costco and Sam's (wherever she can find the best deals) to purchase items to supplement the pantry foods and provide well-rounded bags of food for every student, every weekend."I love to send the children a sweet treat or snack, especially on holidays, but most of the time I have to make the tough decision to buy "real food" instead," Alice added. "It's just too important that these kids have filling foods and good nutrition so that they can stay healthy and be ready to learn."It's so easy to donate -- just click the button above or here and you'll leave this site and go the the Easy Tithe page for one of our major Partners, New Hope Baptist Church.

There you can use your debit or credit card to make a one-time donation or to schedule a recurring donation.If you would prefer to write a check, it can be made payable to New Hope Baptist Church, marked to the attention of "Backpack Blessings" and mailed to:New Hope Baptist ChurchAttn: Backpack Blessings509 South Main StreetMauldin, SC 29662 On this frosty day, it warms my heart to be able to help this worthy cause! It was a Snow Day for Greenville County Schools so my sons Teddy and Thomas helped me load bags and bags of food into our Suburban so that we could make a run to Fountain Inn Presbyterian Church. We enjoyed a stop for lunch together and then we were so happy to be able to deliver a large quantity of food collected for Upstate ‪‎Backpack Blessings (UBB), as well as nearly $200 in cash donations. MANY thanks to Kasey Methot and her coworkers at Ogletree Deakins Law Firm in Greenville for having such an amazingly successful food drive last week. Thanks also to my neighbors for their generous donations

! Alice Prevatt sends her love and gratitude! Ronnetta Hatcher GriffinMrs. South Carolina 2015Backpack Blessings Volunteer Sometimes a call for help is all it takes. I was so happy to be able to stay today and help unpack incoming food. With multiple food drives coming in, the Backpack Blessings pantry is restocked for at least two weeks!!! Just last week, the shelves were bare with 200 children to feed over the coming weekend. Alice Prevatt, Founder of Upstate Backpack Blessings, sent out an emergency email and many folks were quick to respond. Today she sends her love and gratitude!You wouldn't believe all the work that's involved AFTER the food drives are held! Alice runs around town every day of the week picking up food if it's not delivered directly to the church. The food must be carted from vehicles all the way through the church building to the large room where the food is stored. Every food item must be checked for an expiration date, then it is organized, put on a shelf and accounted fo

r.Alice runs around town every day of the week picking up food if it's not delivered directly to the churchr.Tomorrow is packing day. It is so heartwarming to see the care and thought that go into the packing of each bag that will be sent home with a student. You can see Alice in this photo making a list for tomorrow's bags. Each week she decides, based on the foods they have in stock, what they can send home with the children each weekend. Today, she was especially delighted because she will be able to send home two cans of fruit with each child on Friday.Alice said that she asks people, "Can you even imagine having lunch at school on Friday, going home and having no dinner, then no breakfast, lunch or dinner on Saturday OR Sunday, and then returning to school on Monday morning expected to be ready to learn? That is when you will know hunger." Alice saw this firsthand when she worked for years in a middle school cafeteria.The Backpack Blessings program started in Alice's kitchen serving 3 schools

. It quickly grew and now serves 23 schools including my boys' schools -- Riverside Middle School and Eastside High School. It also serves Riverside High School, Hillcrest High School and numerous elementary and middle schools. Alice says that once a child starts with the program in elementary school, if things don't change at home, that weekly bag of food typically follows them all the way through high school.I asked Alice, "What is the #1 item you would like to have stocked in this pantry that you don't currently have?" Her answer was individually cartons of white milk (like Yoohoo but white for use in cereal, grits and oatmeal). She said it's difficult to find and can be expensive. The #2 item is small boxes of cereal. She takes the cash that is receives and shops at Aldi, Save-A-Lot, local grocery stores, Costco and Sam's -- wherever she can find the best deals to get the most food for the kids.We offer the God-given talents we have and I told Alice that I'm going to help her with social media and a website for the program

. Hopefully that can bring more awareness and more donations to the program. This is truly a faithful woman doing God's work. If you've ever thought about donating to or volunteering for a cause that goes directly to helping people in a tangible and immediate way, this is it. Look for more info to come about how YOU can help...because hunger certainly does not take a break on the weekend.If you're visiting this site because you have participated in a food drive, THANK YOU. If you are thinking of collecting food, THANK YOU. Please send us photos of your UBB Food Drives and we'll post it here and on our Facebook pag Mrs. South Carolina's Holiday Food Drive Alice Prevatt, left, Founder of Backpack Blessings pictured with Ronnetta Griffin during a food delivery. This wonderful program helps nearly 200 students each week, and the Holiday Break is a LONG time to go without food!!! Multiple families living in one hotel room...families living under Interstate overpasses...children living with grandparents who are on a fixed income while their parents are serving in the military and deployed overseas.