Giant Food Stores is donating $216,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania’s “Backpack Buddies Program.”

“Being in the retail food business for 95 years, we know we can and must make a very big difference in the fight against hunger in our many communities,” said Christopher Brand, Director of External Communications and Community Relations for Giant.

Second Harvest provides a backpack of food to more than 700 children each week. Each child receives a package of food every Friday to help them supplement their meals until they return to school on Monday morning.

The food is provided by Second Harvest to the schools and after-school program sites that administer the program.

Through the donation of Giant Food Stores, Second Harvest will expand the program to additional sites.

Said Jessica Dokachev, Director of Second Harvest Food Bank, “Even moderate malnutrition can have long-lasting effects on children’s growth and ability to learn.”

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania distributes food and grocery product to more than 60,000 people in need each month through a network of more than 200 nonprofit member agencies in Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, and Wayne counties.

The nonprofit network includes emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and child-care and rehabilitation centers.

Second Harvest Food Bank is a program of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.