East Texas Food Bank

People visiting local Chick-fil-A locations this week will have the opportunity to assist the East Texas Food Bank in fighting hunger among children.

The food bank and 12 Chick-fil-A locations will host Baked Goods for Backpacks from Oct. 26 to 31 to benefit ETFB’s BackPack Program. With the purchase of a brownie or cookie, a donation will be made to the program helping East Texas children facing hunger.

The locations include three in Tyler, three in Longview, two in Lufkin, two in Texarkana, one in Palestine and one in Nacogdoches.

The BackPack Program works with local schools to find children who are at-risk of hunger and gives them a backpack of food on Fridays. This gives the children nourishment over the weekend and helps them return to school ready to learn, according to the food bank. This school year, the program encompasses 148 school sites and will serve 6,600 children.

Chick-fil-A is hosting this event because of an increased rate of food insecurity in local children due to the pandemic, which has increased by 10% since the COVID-19 crisis began. Over 105,000 East Texas children are facing hunger, equating to one in three children.