At Culver Studios Christmas party last week, Hackman Capital CEO and President Michael Hackman announced a donation to the Culver City Backpacks for Kids Program. The donation will allow the program to purchase two weeks worth of supplies to help insure that every child has food on the weekends, when school lunch or breakfast isn’t an option.

Hackman, owner of the Culver Studios, stated, “At this time of year it is of utmost importance to make sure that no student goes without sustenance. We are privileged to be in a position to be able to give back to those organizations in our community that do good work like the Culver City Backpacks for Kids Program. This program performs an outstanding service and hopefully this gift will help them extend their services.”

Jamie Wallace, co-founder of the Culver City Backpacks for Kids Program was especially appreciative of Culver Studios’ generosity. He stated, “This timely gift is greatly appreciated and will help us further the needed bridge between home and school. We are currently serving approximately 200 families and unfortunately, the need for our services shows no signs of abating any time soon.”

Culver City Backpacks for Kids started in 2013 and has grown rapidly since then. Martin Feinberg, Culver City Realtor, was surprised to learn that it began at one elementary school when teachers noticed that some of their students were showing up for school on Mondays hungry.   What started out as three backpacks quickly became 19 backpacks, and by December of 2013, the program had expanded further to include all nine elementary schools within the Culver City Real Estate area.

Of the Unified Culver City School District’s 6,500 students, more than 45% qualify for free or reduced priced school lunch.

Backpacks for Kids is run completely by volunteers and receives no funding from the school district, or the state or federal governments. Food drives held in December, and twice a year at other times, help to gather the resources needed. Families in need can apply or teachers can see a need and request backpacks on behalf of a student. The staff at each school then sends the number of backpacks needed to Backpack for Kids coordinators, who fill the packs alongside middle school student volunteers.

Each backpack is filled with non-perishable foods chosen for their calcium, vitamin, protein, whole grain, and caloric values. The backpacks are then picked up by parent volunteers and delivered back to their schools, where they are discreetly distributed directly to students each Friday.

Last week’s donation by the Culver Studios is not the first time that the company has gotten involved with programs at the CCUSD. Martin Feinberg, Realtor, noted that Culver Studios has financially supported school programs and hosted fundraising events for groups and activities many times in the past. They enjoy a highly successful partnership with schools in the Culver City community.