Changes to Friday Food Bags Mean More Protein and Distribution

The school year is underway and so are the Friday Food Bag Foundation’s efforts to feed Laramie County School District 1 students on the weekends.

The Friday Food Bag Foundation is a non-profit organization in Cheyenne, which uses entirely grant funding, private donations and volunteers to fill, and delivers 875 free bags of food a week to students in Laramie County who may not have access to food on the weekends.

Although the Friday Food Bag Foundation hands out 875 bags of food each week, there are over 5,800 students in Laramie County School District 1 which are eligible for Free or Reduced Price Meals at school. The Friday Food Bag Foundation uses a formula to send a specific number of bags to each school in the district, and allow the local school’s nurses and counselors are used to hand out the bags to those with the most need. When donations to the Food Bag Foundation rise, the number of bags distributed also increases.

Students receiving bags during the 2019-20 school year will see some changes to the bags that will increase protein in the bags. Thanks to the work of Friday Food Bag Foundation Board Member Annie Weisz, a licensed dietitian who works for Laramie County School District Number One, the bags will contain old favorites, such as single-serving pastas, and granola bars along with new additions of trail mix, cheddar chickpeas, pretzel goldfish, and a juice box. The new bags will provide 35 grams of protein compared to 26 grams of protein in last year’s bags.

The cost per bag is also $.56 less than a year ago, which will increase the ability of Friday Food Bag Foundation to deliver another 97 bags per week to students in Laramie County.