John T. Vucurevich Foundation Awards BackPack Program a Matching Grant

SIOUX FALLS, SD – 12/01/10 – The John T. Vucurevich Foundation announced today that they have provided Feeding South Dakota’s, Rapid City BackPack Program with a $50,000 matching grant. This grant and all matching funds will be used to purchase food to ensure that hungry school children have food to eat on the weekends, when schools are closed and there is no access to school meal programs. The Rapid City BackPack Program is currently distributing over 965 weekend food packages to Rapid City school children as well as an additional 700 more to children in Black Hills area schools. From December 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011 each dollar donated to the BackPack Program will be matched dollar for dollar up to a total of $50,000. This grant and the matching funds will be critical to ensuring that all these children continue to receive their weekend food packages through the remainder of this school year. To double the impact that your contribution can have on the life of a hungry child donate on line at www.feedingsouthdakota.org and identify it as “BackPack Program Match” or send your donation to:  

Feeding South Dakota

BackPack Program Match

814 N. Maple Avenue

Rapid City, SD  57701

About the John T. Vucurevich Foundation

 The John T. Vucurevich Foundation awards grants to charitable organizations committed to helping the poor, distressed, under privileged, the advancement of the arts and education, and promotion of social welfare within South Dakota with preference given to west river area and in particular the Black Hills Region. For further information go to www.jtvf.org or call the John T. Vucurevich Foundation at (605) 343-3141.

About Feeding South Dakota

Feeding South Dakota is the state’s largest charitable hunger relief organization whose mission is to eliminate hunger in South Dakota. The Backpack Program provides at-risk children with nutritious, child-friendly, easy-to-prepare foods for the weekends and out-of-school times, until school and access to the meal programs resume. The food is packaged by volunteers and distributed in non-descript backpacks to carry home, freeing them of the stigma of poverty that many low-income children face among their peers. For more information go to www.feedingsouthdakota.org.