FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A Fort Wayne-based food bank is getting a boost to a program meant to help feed kids.

The Rifkin Family Foundation has made a donation of $25,000 to support the Kids BackPack program at Community Harvest Food Bank. The funding will support the purchase of food, benefiting more than 400 children and teens currently enrolled in the program.

“From the bottom of our hearts, we are thankful for the Rifkin Family Foundation’s support,” said Carmen Cumberland, Community Harvest Executive President. “The COVID-19 crisis has affected not only families but children across northeast Indiana. There are so many uncertainties right now, and lack of food should not be another worry that kids face.”

The Kids Backpack program provides weekend food to disadvantaged and at-risk youth when other resources are unavailable. Ten-pound bags are distributed to children and teens through partner feeding sites at the end of each week. Each bag provides shelf-stable fruits, vegetables, soups, protein, boxed meals, snacks, and juice/milk.

The $25,000 will provide more than 3,500 pre-packed food bags to children and teens in northeast Indiana, enough to feed 150 kids on the program for the next six months.

“The Rifkin Family Foundation is pleased to help support the outstanding work that Community Harvest is doing to help children in our community through its Kids BackPack program, especially given the impact that the COVID pandemic is having on so many people,” said Danny Rifkin, a Trustee of the Foundation. “The focus of this particular program is also well aligned with our Foundation’s concentration on causes that are directed towards children and education.”