The Blessings in a Backpack program will help another dozen kids, thanks to support from Brookside – Hershey Canada in Abbotsford.
The company has donated $4,200, which will provide the backpacks to eight children for a school year.
In addition, the company was named a finalist for the Milton Hershey Award of Excellence, which entitled them to receive $2,000 in US funds for a donation to a charity of their choice.
They have designated the additional funds to the backpack program to support another four kids.
This support brings the total number of Abbotsford schools involved in Blessings in a Backpack to 12, with the backpacks being supplied to 168 children.
As well, Brookside supplied chocolate for all the backpacks that went home with the participating students over the Good Friday/Easter long weekend.
Bruce Beck, the Rotary Club of Abbotsford's director of community services, said Blessings in a Backpack now has 35 community partners who have contributed almost $95,000.
The program began through the Rotary Club and the Abbotsford Food Bank, providing backpacks filled with food to elementary students in the community.
The backpacks contain two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners, and are dropped off at participating schools for kids to take home each Friday.
The empty packs are then returned early in the week so they can be refilled for the following weekend.
To donate to the program or for more information, call the Abbotsford Food Bank at 604-859-5749 or contact Bruce Beck at bbb1771@shawbiz.ca.