The Saint Augustine’s University women’s basketball team kicked off their community giving by working with the Inter Faith Food Shuttle’s BackPack Buddies Program. Several athletes helped sort and pack food for children who may not have food or meals to eat over the weekends.

“It is important for our young ladies to lend a helping hand in the community,” said fourth-year head coach Rachel Bullard. “It is something we enjoy doing and it helps us to understand how fortunate we really are.”

The BackPack Buddies Program provides children from food-insecure homes with weekend meals during the school year. Local corporations, civic groups, and individuals help collect and pack bags with kid-friendly, non-perishable food. The children receive a backpack containing six balanced meals and two healthy snacks at the end of every week. The children are selected by school principals, guidance counselors and various after school programs.

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (IFFS) pioneers innovative, transformative solutions designed to end hunger in the community. Since 1989, FFS has served children, adults, families, and the elderly through proactive programs; moving beyond emergency food provision to sustainable, local solutions to food hardships. From farm to fork, IFFS teaches, grows, prepares, cooks and delivers healthy, nutritious food to people experiencing food hardship. Their programs currently serve Wake, Durham, Edgecombe, Chatham, Orange, Nash, and Johnston counties.

For more information on the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, visit their website at http://foodshuttle.org.