New Orlando Chapter aspires to provide food for 16,000 kids who might otherwise go hungry

Kate and Justin Rose are committed to feeding hungry tummies in Greater Orlando. With 40,000 food-insecure kids in the area, their foundation, the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation, has founded a Blessings in a Backpack chapter in Orlando that will provide bags of food for kids on the weekends, and while schools are closed due to the current COVID-19 emergency.

Since 2009, the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation has worked with Blessings in a Backpack to provide more than 50,000 hunger-free weekends for local kids. This school year, they are feeding 1,865 students at five schools. Bags of weekend food continue to be distributed while schools are closed at three schools and the OCPS feeding sites. The Kate & Justin Rose Foundation has taken a leadership role in feeding more kids on the weekends through a strategic gift to found a Blessings in a Backpack chapter in Orlando.

“This program is very close to our hearts because Kate and I know Blessings in a Backpack fills a crucial void for children who might otherwise go hungry,” Justin Rose said. “I can’t expect to play good golf if I’m not properly nourished. How can we expect kids to go a full weekend without enough to eat and then be able to focus on learning the next school week?” The need is greater than ever to provide hunger-free weekends to our children due to COVID-19 school closures, making the launch of this Orlando chapter extremely timely.

“We are thankful for Kate and Justin’s continued dedication to feeding kids in the Orlando area,” Brooke Wiseman, CEO of Blessings in a Backpack, said. “With the launch of the new Kate & Justin Rose Foundation chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, we know we’ll be able to reach many more food-insecure kids who need this program.”

The Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack in Orlando hopes to grow its impact to serve 16,000 kids over the next ten years. As little as $4 will help provide one bag of food for a hungry child. You can learn more at orlando.blessingsinabackpack.org.

Blessings in a Backpack’s mission is to mobilize communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. The national organization will provide threemillion hunger-free weekends this school year for more than 87,000 kids in 46 states and Washingtion, D.C.