Challenge yourself and others ... Instead of purchasing your daily specialty drinks give that money to the BACKPACK PROGRAM. Feed a child, feed the mind!   

DONATIONS ARE NEEDED ... HAVE YOU MADE YOURS? You may make your donation in a secure online environment, to be a part of the Lincoln East Team click here any donation made in this area will be credited to Lincoln East.

There will be a donation jar in the Health Office, or you can drop off your donations to Judy Larson in the main office. All checks need to be payable to Lincoln Food Bank.

Lincoln East raised $7516.93 for last year's Backpack Program coming in second for the first time in many years.  Contributions can continue throughout the year and we encourage everyone to remember to give to the Food Bank of Lincoln and keep our community assisting those in need. 

This is the sixth year that LPS is partnering with the Food Bank of Lincoln to educate the community on the number of children in Lincoln whose poverty affects their nutrition.  Donations are sought to feed these children so that each is ready to learn in school every day.

Kids who might otherwise go the weekend without food instead go home with 5-10 meal preparations.  GIVE GENEROUSLY ... FEED OUR KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES!

Here are some details of the “Backpack Extra Mile” Program:

 *  Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) partners with the Food Bank of Lincoln to provide food for the weekend for students in need, previously sent home in backpacks every Friday.  The program was launched during the 2004-2005 school year, initially sending home backpacks filled with food on Friday afternoons for 50 students at one elementary school.

 *  Children are our most important and valuable assets, and research shows that healthy, well-nourished children are much better learners.  The weekend can often create a food crisis for students and their families, and the weekend is a long time to go without food.

 *  Currently there are 2,500 LPS students at 34 schools receive weekly food-filled backpacks.  This number has increased to 3,000 students for the second half of the school year.

 *  The program started in one elementary school and now reaches beyond LPS in to private and parochial schools in Lincoln as well as from 28 rural communities.

 *  During the first three months of the 2012–13 school year, 27,728 food-filled backpacks were distributed. At the conservative estimate of five meals per backpack, that means this year the BackPack program has provided 138,640 meals.

 *  The need continues to grow:  15,099 of LPS students – 42.5% of all students – qualify for free and reduced lunch.  45.3% of preschool through 5^th grade students are living in poverty.  This means that about 4,400 of the 6,600 elementary school children who qualify for free lunch are not receiving food through the BackPack Program.