WRAL-FM BackPack Buddies

MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM will host its annual BackPack Buddies Food Drive Thursday to help the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Posted 8:43 p.m. Aug 15, 2010 — Updated 8:43 p.m. Aug 15, 2010

RALEIGH, N.C. — MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM will host its annual BackPack Buddies Food Drive Thursday to help the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Donations can be made 6 a.m.-6 p.m. at two locations: in front of Old Navy in Crossroads Plaza Shopping Center on Crossroads Boulevard in Cary and in front of Macy’s at Crabtree Valley Mall on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh.

Bill Jordan and Lynda Loveland of Bill & Lynda in the Morning will kick off the event Thursday morning to encourage MIX 101.5 listeners to donate food, new backpacks or monetary contributions. Bill Jordan and On-time Traffic host Vanna Fox will be at the Crossroads Plaza location, and Lynda Loveland will be joined by David Crabtree of WRAL-TV at the Crabtree Valley Mall location.

Over 91,000 children in a seven-county region rely on free or reduced lunches during the school year. The BackPack Buddies Program is designed to meet the needs of these children when other resources are not available by providing backpacks filled with enough food for six healthy meals and two healthy snacks that children take home on the weekend. The empty backpacks are collected after the weekend and refilled for the next weekend’s use.

Non-perishable food items that are needed include:

pop-top canned food (e.g. soups, Chef Boyardee, meats, tuna, fruits and vegetables),
individual-sized cereal boxes
individual packages of crackers
healthy snacks (e.g. granola bars, oatmeal, breakfast bars)
microwavable meals (e.g. macaroni and cheese, Ramen noodles)
100 percent juice in cans, plastic bottles or boxes

Monetary donations can be made in person at the drop-off locations during the Food Drive or online at wralfm.com. Checks made in person at drop-off locations should be payable to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Local corporations, civic groups and individuals collect backpacks and food and then help pack the bags. In 2009, MIX 101.5 raised over $27,000 in monetary donations and nearly 10,000 pounds of food for the BackPack Buddies Program.

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