Good-To-Go Program backpack meals assist more than 1,000 children

The Glens Falls Foundation was proud to partner with community organizations and the public during the 2017-18 school year for our “Good-to-Go” campaign to provide meals to approximately 1,000 local children in 21 local school districts who may not have access to nutritious meals on weekends.

The inaugural campaign raised $60,000 to support “backpack” programs that send children home on Friday afternoons with backpacks full of nutritious food for the weekend.  The children attend public schools in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties. Their families are considered “food insecure.”

The Glens Falls Foundation provided a $50,000 grant, and $10,000 was raised from grassroots community donations through a Foundation-led online crowd-funding campaign. The money was distributed to the Open Door Mission and the Regional Food Bank which provide backpacks to many local school districts and to some local schools that themselves provide backpacks.

More than 20 schools across Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties were supported through the Good To Go program (see the full list of schools below).

The program is just one of many ways the Glens Falls Foundation is helping to fight intergenerational poverty throughout Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties. In 2017, the Foundation provided critical community needs grants to three local organizations:

• The Open Door Mission, which serves more than 20,000 meals annually and operates an emergency shelter for homeless people, received $60,000 to support a broad expansion of its outreach programs and its facilities;

• Crandall Public Library received $60,000 to create the first local, centralized community information resource, including a web portal and database, to connect people in poverty or without jobs with the services, training and support they need, and

• The Family Service Association of Glens Falls received $60,000 to develop a new educational and long-term support program to help struggling families achieve economic independence and move out of poverty by collaborating with Adirondack Samaritan Counseling Center, schools, and businesses in our communities.

Area Schools Supported Through the Good To Go Program

• Argyle

• Bolton

• Cambridge

• Corinth

• Fort Ann

• Fort Edward

• Abraham Wing School

• Big Cross Elementary - Glens Falls

• Glens Falls Junior High School

• Glens Falls Middle School

• Glens Falls Senior High School

• Granville