The U.S. Apple Association awarded a $4,000 grant to Baltimore’s Robert W. Coleman Elementary as part of its 2019 Apples4Ed program.
The grant will provide about 200 “weekend survival” food-filled backpacks to its homeless student population, according to the association’s news release.
“Receiving numerous applications from across the country, Robert W. Coleman Elementary really stood out because of its critical need to provide students with healthy, substantive food they otherwise might not receive,” apple association president and CEO Jim Bair in the release.
Nearly 3,000 students in Baltimore are homeless, which means they may get free meals at school during the weekdays, but on the weekends, they are likely to go without, according to the release.
Through Heart’s Place Services Inc., a homeless charity, Weekend Survival Backpacks are given to homeless students at the end of each week to feed a family of three. Robert W. Coleman Elementary is one of 11 elementary schools in Baltimore that participates in the program.
Also attending the grant presentation was U.S. Apple Association board member Ryan Hess from Hess Brothers Fruit Co., Lancaster, Pa., which provided apples for the entire student body.
Applications for 2020 Apples4Ed funding will open in August.
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