Excelsior Students Raise Money for HACAP’s Operation Backpack

The students in Ms. Meyer’s class at Excelsior Middle School regularly pack bags of food for Operation Backpack.

Operation Backpack is a program that provides a bag of food that goes home with less-fortunate children throughout the community. It provides nutritious food for kids who would likely go hungry, when school breakfast and lunch are not available.  Ms. Meyer’s class packed more than 200 bags last year.

This year, the students decided to give back to the community by donating money earned from their School House Brew program to Operation Backpack.

At School House Brew, Excelsior students work every week taking orders, preparing beverages and  baked goods, and then they deliver them to staff. The program started back in 2006.

The kids presented a check for one hundred dollars to the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP)

In appreciation for the donation, the HACAP staff took time out to give the kids a tour of their food reservoir in Hiawatha.  The reservoir provides the food that the Excelsior kids and other volunteers from throughout the community use for Operation Backpack.

Operation Backpack serves more than 2,700 children from 79 schools in the HACAP service area which includes Linn, Johnson, Benton, Jones, Iowa, Cedar and Washington counties.