Sept. 28, 2011
RENO, Nev. - 
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Over 70 Wolf Pack student-athletes, coaches and staff and student volunteers from the University of Nevada's Center for Student Cultural Diversity joined together Wednesday afternoon to pack over 350 snack packs for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada's Back-Pack Kids program.
The Wolf Pack spent the last few weeks purchasing snack items and donating money and their efforts culminated with Wednesday's "Pack the Pack" Pay-It-Forward party. Back-Pack Kids is a Food Bank of Northern Nevada program that provides nutritious, kid-friendly weekend foods for elementary school children who are at risk of hunger. The backpack provides 3-4 simple meals and snacks for the child for the weekend.
The target student for the Back-Pack Kids program is a homeless child in the school district's Children in Transition program or a child showing signs of chronic hunger. These children rely heavily on free breakfast and lunch at school, but their weekend food resources are limited or even non-existent. Children are discreetly given the food in regular backpacks, allowing them to avoid embarrassment and the stigma associated with needing assistance. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada currently distributes about 500-700 backpacks of food every week at 17 participating schools.
The Wolf Pack also challenges other people and organizations in the community to host their own Pay-It-Forward parties and help the Food Bank of Northern Nevada end hunger in our community.
Nevada's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a leadership group made up of representatives from each of the Wolf Pack's 16 sports, has chosen child hunger issues as its main charitable focus for the 2011-12 school year, and Wednesday's event is the first in a year-long effort by the Wolf Pack to partner with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and tackle the goal of creating "One Hunger-Free Community, One Pack."
Wolf Pack student-athletes will be participating in volunteer activities with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada each month this year. Other planned activities include volunteer nights at the food bank and other events, challenges and food drives at home games. Nevada student-athletes, coaches and staff contribute over 2,500 hours of service to the northern Nevada community every year.
For more information about the Food Bank of Northern Nevada or to find out about hosting a Pay-It-Forward party, please visit www.fbnn.org.
