The mission of Feeding Our Communities Partners (FOCP) is to engage the community in providing youth hunger relief and inspiring nutrition learning.
FOCP provides weekend hunger relief to children in grades K-8 who identify as food-insecure through their two initiatives, the BackPack Food Program and the Power Pack Program. The programs provide nutritious and well-balanced breakfast, lunch, and snacks for each day the child is out of school during weekends and school breaks. FOCP is currently providing the BackPack Food Program and Power Pack Program in a total of 29 local schools and projected to serve 1300 students in the 2021-2022 school year.
A second, non-programming initiative of FOCP, the Greater Mankato Area Hunger Assistance Network, focuses on building collaboration in the community and works toward ending hunger in the greater Mankato area. The network includes professionals, board members, and key volunteers from local assistance agencies. The network meets bi-monthly on the third Thursday of the month.