KidsPak in Loveland Addressing Rising Food Costs

KidsPak works hard to squeeze the greatest amount of nutritional food out of every dollar donated. Because their food drives over the past 3 years were successful, their average out-of-pocket cost had been about $3.70 per weekend food bag, which had 5 meals inside. The school year schedule cost (across 34 weeks) had been averaging $70,000 per year.

As COVID started and hunger increased in the community, KidsPak increased the bags to contain 12 items for a total of 6 meals per bag instead of 5. At the same time that need was rising, food prices across the country increased because of supply-chain issues. All food-security organizations, including our partner the Food Bank for Larimer County, experienced shortages. They expanded their sourcing of foods from other suppliers to compensate. KidsPak now also relies on US Foods for many snack and cereal items. And they have a food broker who brings KidsPak special buys when they’re available, such as pasta sauce, cheese cups, etc.

In addition to increasing the amount of food per bag, they also distributed bags over a greater portion of the calendar year. This included some $47,000 of purchases during summer 2021.

KidsPak currently has three rotating menus with an average cost of $7.90 per bag, which weighs about 5.5 pounds.

Donations are always welcome and greatly appreciated at kidspak.org.