Operation Food for Thought

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On the side of a refrigerator, a calendar marked with dates for rent, remote learning, and vaccine. On another calendar, days for Distance Learning Homework. Text, Everyday More Than 10 Million US Children Live in Food Insecure Households.

Rev. Kevin Ross, Minister, Unity of Sacramento International Spiritual Center

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KEVIN ROSS: We are living in some very difficult times right now. And in this very adult world, children are often the most vulnerable.

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COVID Cancels In-Classroom School. Food Insecurity Skyrockets. Marlene Ibsen, VP, Community Relations

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MARLENE IBSEN: The pandemic has had wide-ranging effects. When schools were shut, families were thrown into even deeper levels of food insecurity than they had before.

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Erin Kerr, CEO Blessings in a Backpack

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ERIN KERR: In every zip code in America, there is a child that during the school week, is able to get food from their school's free and reduced-price meal program,

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Text, Weekend Hunger Haunts 13 Million

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but whenever school closes its doors on Friday, so often, they don't know what they're going to eat until they come back to school on Monday morning.

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Kids in a school cafeteria. Regina Jackson-Willis, Family Resource Center coordinator Engelhard Elementary

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REGINA JACKSON-WILLIS: Hunger is real. And it looks like acting out, fighting, and crying and complaining about their stomachs hurting. That's what hunger looks like.

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Photo of Missy Hammerstrom. Kaela Hammerstrom, Daughter of Founder

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MISSY HAMMERSTROM: My mom started Blessings in a Backpack, here in Louisville, Kentucky. The law firm that she worked for, did community outreach at a local elementary school.

And while my mom and this little girl were finishing lunch, the girl asked my mom for her apple. The little girl told my mom that she needed something to eat this weekend. That night, we bought every backpack and as many non-perishable food items as we could find. And the next morning, my dad woke up and drove them around to different churches and really anyone that would accept them.

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A teacher writes on a blackboard, In an animation behind her, an apple falls from a desk into a backpack.
Logo and text, Blessings in a Backpack. Who will feed the kids this weekend?

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ERIN KERR: No matter what community you're in, Blessings in a Backpack helps people and their community, close the weekend nutrition gap for children.

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Kids in classrooms.

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KEVIN ROSS: It's difficult to focus on anything productive when you're hungry. So children who have a knowingness that they will have the meals that they need, they don't have to worry. They can play freely without having to think like an adult.

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An outdoor sign at Engelhard Elementary. Inside, students in masks. They work at laptops in the classrooms.

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REGINA JACKSON-WILLIS: Engelhard is a very transient, high-need school. We have students who have been through so much in their young lives, a lot of trauma.

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A row of tents outdoors.

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Now you have families who live in tents and families who live in shelters and families who are doubled up. That's our population. That's our neighborhood.

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Angela Duncan in her home and at the school.

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ANGELA DUNCAN: It gets kind of tight. You set aside money for food, and you can buy what you think might be enough, But sometimes, it's not. And you do run out. And that's happened a few times, a few times. If it wasn't for Blessings in a Backpack, sometimes we wouldn't eat.

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Regina Jackson-Willis

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REGINA JACKSON-WILLIS: Miss Duncan makes big sacrifices for her family. She gives a lot of herself.

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Angela Duncan opens her refrigerator.

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ANGELA DUNCAN: It's a scary thought, sometimes. They'll come home, and it's like, go to the refrigerator, go to the cabinets. There's food in there, but it may be not enough. I'm the type of person that really doesn't like to ask for help.

So asking for help, makes me feel like I haven't done my job.

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A young boy at the kitchen table.

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I feel that I should be able to take care of my grandkids when I can. And sometimes, situations make it so that you can't, and it's really hard.

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The Chicago cityscape. Kevin Ross

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KEVIN ROSS: I remember being a kid growing up on the South Side of Chicago. And I wanted to personally participate in making sure that young people have a village experience. That this invisible village is around them that's also championing their success.

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Volunteers fill backpacks. Erin Kerr

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MISSY HAMMERSTROM: The heart of our backpack, is our volunteers, local people in their community wanting to change the lives of children.

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Marlene Ibsen with volunteers.

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MARLENE IBSEN: This is one of the final stages of Operation Food for Thought, which took place February through April. Really excited to be here today with all of you to get some of these backpacks ready.

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The four locations on a map of the world.

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MARLENE IBSEN: At Travelers, we believe in inclusive prosperity. and wanted to support organizations in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland that are helping families who rely on school meal programs to ensure that kids have enough food on the weekends.

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Alicia Charles, VP, Center Sales Operations, Personal Insurance

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ALICIA CHARLES: This particular activity ensures that they can thrive, whether they're in or out of the classroom.

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Sean Ramalho, SVP, Strategic Execution, Enterprise Distribution

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SEAN RAMALHO: I mean it's not just about profit and dollars. It's about what cultural impact will you have on the community that you're part of.

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Hakema Hussein, Sr. Associate Data Engineer, Digital Enablement, Technology

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HAKEMA HUSSEIN: I have two little kids myself, and just doing anything to help out the community, other kids, who might be just suffering out there, is meaningful for me.

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Volunteers fill backpacks in a gymnasium. Erin Kerr. Locations on a map of the US, Lake Oswego, Sacramento, CA, Phoenix, Dallas, TX, Chicago/Naperville, Hartford, Orlando, Tampa.

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MARLENE IBSEN: The partnership with Travelers, is so important because it is going to feed children in eight markets across the country.

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Text, 2,000 Children, 36 School Weeks, 2 Meals Per Week

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That's resulted in 2000 kids being fed every weekend at the school year.

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An animation, backpacks with apples fall over the US map. Janice Davis, Volunteer Program Coordinator, with another volunteer.

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JANICE DAVIS: Between volunteers and monetary, I was so blown away when I heard what Travelers is doing for our program here in Rancho Cordova. They've allowed us to add 200 kids to our program right now.

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They fill backpacks in a parking lot.

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We found out just how important our program was during the pandemic when we had moms pulling up crying that they didn't know what they were going to do. We had dads pulling up thanking us. It was unbelievable.

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Erin Kerr

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MARLENE IBSEN: Oh, my goodness, what keeps me going? Our volunteers, our donors, OK. It's the people who give so much to help feed kids.

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A collection of paper and digital messages. Sophie Cordova, Program Manager, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas

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SOPHIA CORDOVA: To get the feedback from those parents, text messages, phone calls, the tears, the thank you messages, the smiles, the hugs. There's nothing that can compare to that.

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A boy pulls items from a backpack. Angela Duncan.

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ANGELA DUNCAN: Kieryon does like his blessings. He gets it and it's like he's rummaging through and seeing what's in there. Without the Blessings in a Backpack, it would be kind of hard.

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In a photo, Missy Hammerstrom holds a framed award as she stands in a group.

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MISSY HAMMERSTROM: My mom passed away in 2010. This is her legacy, and I feel her, I see her in the faces of the children.

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Kaela Hammerstrom

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I just want to continue to build on where we started. I would love to get to a point where they're hungry-free weekends for all children.

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Kevin Ross

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KEVIN ROSS: Just this little act of kindness makes this huge ripple effect. And I pray that the little ones, as they grow up and think of some of us that are part of that invisible village, they may not remember our faces or names or any of that, but they remember somebody showed up for them.

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Angela Duncan

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ANGELA DUNCAN: Blessings is a blessing. It helps our family out a whole lot.

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Regina Jackson-Willis

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ALICIA CHARLES: Food and education, they're important. Food, education, and love. [LAUGHS]

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Logo and text, Blessings in a Backpack
The red umbrella moves to the end of the name Travelers.