Backpack Buddies Update
In 2012, Middleburg United Methodist Church launched Backpack Buddies, a food-assistance program for underprivileged school-age children in Loudoun County who face food insecurity. This important mission was borne out of an idea of one of our members, who recognized the need for children to have supplemental meals when school is not in session.
The program currently serves Aldie Elementary and Banneker Elementary schools, and is operated with funds pledged from church members and friends, as well as through grant monies we receive from local foundations. All students who participate are approved by the school parent liaison that works with low-income families.
Between 2016 and today, we have assisted between 20-40 students on average. Today we are packing for 31 local students.
Thanks to our generous donors, our church has been able to expand our program over the years.
In 2021, we expanded our efforts to include the Angel Tree program, which provides items for students at Christmas time, including coats, jackets, socks, shoes, hats, gloves, pants, shirts, underwear and possibly a toy as well. We also provide the head of household with a $25 gift certificate.
We also provide gift cards to children over 12 years of age – one to McDonald’s and one to Walmart. Our goal is to provide this same opportunity for local students for Christmas 2026. Our United Methodist Women’s group, now called Partners in Missions (PIM) also participates in providing funds for this program.
In addition to regular meal items, the schools we serve asked us to provide weekly snacks for the kindergarten classrooms in the late 2025 school year (20 snacks per day each week). That amounted to 100 snacks per week as the school year wound down. This year, we also provided iPad earbuds for 15 students' computers.
How we're doing:
- The Angel Tree program cost is between $1,500 to $2,000 annually.
- During the 2023-2024 school year, we spent $10,291 for BackPack Buddies.
- During the 2024-2025 school year, we spent $9,012 for BackPack Buddies.
- As of October 2026, our shelves are still full and we have been packing lunches since September - roughly 7 weeks of meals! To date, we have spent $3,352 to fully stock our shelves with product.
- However, for the 2026-2027 school year, we anticipate potential cost increases and estimate our budget to be roughly $9,000 - $11,000, as food prices continue to rise.
Throughout the year, we receive some monies from individuals as well as donations of some food items and do some other fundraising events as well. We primarily shop for our program at Walmart, Target, COSTCO, and occassionally Amazon.
We remain grateful to everyone who pledges their time, money and talent to support this mission-critical work. The results of the program are plenty, and we are delighted to be such an important part of the students’ lives whom we touch.
We are always seeking volunteers for our program. Please reach out to the church office if you would like to volunteer!