Thanks to the support of an anonymous donor, United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s Buddy Backpacks program will be available to the Iron Range throughout the summer – with a twist.
“Buddy Backpacks are distributed directly through the schools during the school year, and with schools closed we had to get creative about getting weekend meal kits to local children,” said UWNEMN Community Impact Coordinator Michelle Lampton.
The solution? Handing Buddy Backpacks out every Thursday at Meet Up and Chow Down sites across the Iron Range.
UWNEMN’s Meet Up and Chow Down program will provide free summer lunches – and on Thursdays, “Summer Buddy Backpacks” – to all children ages 0-18 from 12 pm to 1 pm Monday-Thursday at the following locations:
- Chisholm Kiwanis Park
- Hibbing Bennett Park
- Hibbing HRA Playground
- Mountain Iron Public Library
- Nashwauk Public Library
- Virginia AEOA
- Virginia HRA
- Virginia Olcott Park
“Summer Buddy Backpacks” will be take-home meal kits with child friendly shelf stable food to provide children with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks throughout the weekend.
This program partnership has a key benefit.
“Children won’t need to be enrolled in a program in order to receive the Summer Buddy Backpacks,” she said.
During the school year, schools and families enroll children in Buddy Backpacks based on a number of factors. Meet Up and Chow Down is open to all children under the age of 18 with no qualifications required.
This distribution method has one drawback, Lampton acknowledges.
“Buddy Backpacks are distributed across our entire service area during the school year because we have help from every school in the region,” she said. “Unfortunately we are unable to operate Meet Up and Chow Down in every community in our service area – as much as we’d like to.”
UWNEMN’s Meet Up and Chow Down site relies heavily on volunteers and requires a food vendor that meets U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Minnesota Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program guidelines.
“We have a staff of six located in Chisholm and a service area that covers the entire Iron Range, Koochiching County, and Lake of the Woods County,” Lampton noted. “We can’t staff all the sites ourselves, and certainly not the ones far distances from our office, so we must have fully committed volunteers all summer long in order to add sites further away.”
Additional volunteers will also be required in order to deliver Summer Buddy Backpacks to Meet Up and Chow Down sites this summer.
These volunteers are needed from 12 – 1 pm Thursdays throughout the summer for the following sites:
- Chisholm Kiwanis Park (pick up Buddy Backpacks at UWNEMN first)
- Hibbing Bennett Park (pick up Buddy Backpacks at Lincoln Elementary first)
- Hibbing HRA (pick up Buddy Backpacks at Lincoln Elementary first)
- Virginia HRA (pick up Buddy Backpacks at Merritt Elementary first)
Individuals, companies, or organizations interested in delivering Summer Buddy Backpacks can contact michelle@unitedwaynemn.org or visit www.unitedwaynemn.org/volunteer.
Meet Up and Chow Down lunches and summer Buddy Backpacks will not be distributed the week of July 4th.
*UPDATE* Summer Buddy Backpacks are also available the following days/locations:
- Mondays 11:30 am - 1 pm at Eveleth Northside Park
- Tuesdays 11:30 am - 1 pm at Gilbert Community Center
- Wednesdays 11:30 am - 1 pm at Keewatin Park (across from City Hall)
- Thursdays 12-1 pm at Cook Public Library (starting July 25th, Cook Public Library will host Meet Up and Chow Down 12-1 pm M-Th with Summer Buddy Backpacks also available on Thursdays!)