Contact:
Terry Toscano Shenfeld, 315-289-8505, terryshenfeld@gmail.com
Jeanie Brown, 315-478-6188, cdandjmbrown@aol.com
Celebrating 10 years!
OUR MISSION:
To ensure no child attending Delaware Primary School goes hungry on weekends during the school year. Delaware Primary is located on the Syracuse West Side where about three out of four children live in extreme poverty in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. All students receive free breakfast and lunch at school during the week. BIBP bridges the weekend hunger gap for children facing food insecurity.
Every Friday, every Pre-K - 5th grade student takes home healthy, kid-friendly, ready-to-eat food items. On Monday, students return to school nourished and ready to learn.
Program Impact:
Sept. 2025 - June 2026 - School Year
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Nourished 335 children every week
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Provided over 86,700 healthy food items
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Ensured 12,395 hunger-free weekends
Made possible by our kind and caring community!
Meeting families and Delaware Primary staff at the annual Back-to-School Bash. Pictured are Pastor Andy Anderson and Jeanie Brown.
"The weekend feeding program is essential in providing Delaware students with access to healthy meals when school is not in session, ensuring consistent availability of a variety of food options to meet their nutritional needs. This initiative has made a meaningful impact on both children and their families by easing food insecurity and promoting overall well-being. We are deeply grateful for the continued support that makes this vital program possible.”
- Valery Wentworth, Administrative Intern, Delaware Primary School
How to donate to Blessings in a Backpack
Join us in making a meaningful difference in the lives of children in need. Your gift of $125 will feed one child every weekend of the school year. Our program is made possible through charitable giving. Your gift in any amount is gratefully appreciated.
Please give today:
1. Securely online by clicking Donate, then click on the Blessings in a Backpack box on the Vanco donation page.
2. By check payable to Bellevue Heights UMC with BIBP in the memo line. Mail to:
Bellevue Heights United Methodist Church,
2112 S. Geddes Street, Syracuse, NY 13207.
The 4th Annual DASH for DELAWARE Fun Walk/Run, held June 6, 2026, was a record year...raising over $13,000! Many, many thanks to our generous donors, sponsors, and participants who made the DASH our most successful yet! These funds will provide weekend food for every child at Delaware Primary School throughout the coming school year.
BHUMC volunteers gathered to pack food for the February 2025 Winter Break, sponsored, in part, by the Popeye's Foundation.