Two Programs. One Mission.
Every Friday, students leave our schools carrying more than books and homework—they carry the hope that there will be enough food to get them through the weekend.
68.6 % of students in Woodland Hills School District are from economically disadvantaged families, making 95% of students eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced-price meal program. While this addresses students’ hunger during school, many return to an empty home on Fridays, with little to no food until they return to school on Monday. Studies have found that often low-income students who go home over the weekend to households with little or nothing to eat return to school on Mondays hungry and unable to concentrate. Studies further show that hunger can lead to a lack of impulse control and unable to control and behavioral issues.
No child should have to wonder where their next meal will come from.
Food insecurity does not look the same for every child.
For a six-year-old, it may mean going home on Friday with no adult available to prepare a meal. For a seventeen-year-old, it may mean quietly worrying about whether there will be enough food for younger siblings or other family members throughout the weekend.
That is why the Woodland Hills Foundation supports two complementary programs that work together to provide students across the Woodland Hills School District with reliable access to food during weekends, school breaks, and other times when school meals are unavailable.
Together, Backpacks of Hope and the Woodland Hills High School Free Food Pantry serve students from kindergarten through twelfth grade while protecting their privacy, preserving their dignity, and meeting their needs in age-appropriate ways.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 annually throughout the ten-month school year to sustain both programs throughout the school year.
Serving Elementary and Middle School Students
Backpacks of Hope was launched in 2020 after Woodland Hills social workers recognized a heartbreaking pattern: many children were leaving school on Fridays with little or no food waiting for them at home.
For some students, the meals they receive at school may be the most dependable meals they eat all week. When the school day ends on Friday, those children may face an entire weekend of uncertainty before returning on Monday morning.
Today, Backpacks of Hope serves students at:
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Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy
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Edgewood Elementary STEAM Academy
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Turtle Creek Elementary STEAM Academy
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Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy
Each Friday, participating students’ backpacks are quietly collected while they are in class. Social workers and staff fill the bags with food and return them to the students’ lockers before the end of the day.The process is intentionally discreet.
Classmates do not see which students are participating, and children do not have to publicly ask for help or carry a visibly different bag.Each backpack contains approximately six easy-to-prepare meals, along with snacks and other child-friendly foods, such as:
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Easy Mac
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Chef Boyardee meals
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Microwaveable meals
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Soup
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Tuna
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Granola bars
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Fruit cups
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Fruit snacks
These foods are selected with younger children in mind. Most require little or no preparation and can be eaten safely even when a parent or caregiver is unavailable to cook. Backpacks of Hope currently provides weekend food to approximately 70–100 students each week.Each backpack represents more than a bag of food. It gives a child the comfort of knowing there will be something to eat on Saturday and Sunday—and the chance to return to school on Monday nourished, focused, and ready to learn.
JUST $2.50 = 1 FULL BAG OF FOOD
$10 = FEEDS ONE STUDENT FOR A MONTH
$100 = FEEDS ONE STUDENT FOR A YEAR
Serving High School Students and Their Families
As students grow older, their needs often change. High school students may be able to prepare meals independently, but many also carry concerns that extend beyond themselves. Some help care for younger siblings. Others live in households where food must be stretched among several family members.
In 2025, Woodland Hills High School social workers secured a grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to establish a permanent food pantry inside the high school. The grant provided refrigerators, shelving, other necessary equipment, and funding for the pantry’s food during its first year. When that grant funding ended, the Woodland Hills Foundation assumed financial responsibility for keeping the pantry open so that students and families would not suddenly lose access to this essential resource.
Unlike Backpacks of Hope, which provides individual children with easy-to-prepare weekend meals, the High School Pantry offers a broader selection of food that can supplement meals for an entire household.
Available items may include:
Fresh chicken
Ground beef
Holiday turkeys or hams
Fresh fruits
Fresh vegetables
Milk
Eggs
Bread
Potatoes
Pantry staples
Students may visit the pantry during designated hours on Fridays, with support from staff and student volunteers. Food is distributed thoughtfully and responsibly so that available resources can reach as many households as possible.
During the 2025-2026 school year, the pantry recorded 1,336 visits.
Behind every number is a student trying to make sure there is enough food at home. A visit to the pantry may provide groceries for a weekend, ingredients for several family meals, or the reassurance that younger brothers and sisters will not go hungry.
UP TO 96 STUDENTS SERVED EACH MONTH
90+ FAMILIES SERVED EACH MONTH
430+ HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS SERVED EACH YEAR
How the Programs Work Together
Although Backpacks of Hope and the High School Pantry operate differently, they function as one coordinated food security initiative.
When community organizations conduct food drives, donated items are delivered to Wilkins Elementary School. There, Danielle Zurisko—a Woodland Hills social worker and one of the founders of Backpacks of Hope—works with her team to determine where each item can have the greatest impact.
Child-friendly, shelf-stable foods that require little or no preparation are directed to Backpacks of Hope.
Fresh foods, family-sized products, meal ingredients, and other household staples are directed to the High School Pantry.
This coordinated approach ensures that every donation is used thoughtfully and reaches the students and families who can benefit from it most.The programs may have different names, but they are connected by the same purpose: making sure Woodland Hills students have food when school meals are unavailable.
A Community Working Together:
These programs are sustained by a growing network of community partners, donors, volunteers, alumni, businesses, and local organizations.
During the 2025-2026 school year, we have welcomed support from:
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Forest Hills Rotary
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Edward Jones (Forest Hills)
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Restoration Community Church
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Woodside Neighbors (aka "The Honey Pot")
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Swissvale Borough
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Local fraternities and sororities
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Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
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Other community food drives
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Other private donors
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Giving Tuesday donors
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Monthly individual donors
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Alumni Cabaret supporters
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Trunk or Treat attendees
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Woodland Hills Foundation Gala attendees
These efforts demonstrate the generosity of our community. They also reflect the reality that food insecurity cannot be solved through one fundraiser or one food drive alone. Students need dependable support every week of the school year.
One Investment. Two Programs.
Together, Backpacks of Hope and the Woodland Hills High School Free Food Pantry provide a continuum of support from kindergarten through graduation.
Backpacks of Hope helps ensure that a young child has food they can safely prepare and eat throughout the weekend.
The High School Pantry gives older students access to fresh food and household staples that can help nourish not only the student, but also parents, siblings, and other family members.
The programs operate differently because the students they serve have different needs.
Yet they share one mission:
No Woodland Hills student should go hungry when school meals are unavailable.
Together, the programs cost approximately $10,000 (conservatively) to operate during the 10-month school year:
Backpacks of Hope: approximately $500 per month
Woodland Hills High School Free Food Pantry: approximately $500 per month
A $10,000 investment would help sustain both programs for an entire school year. It would help fill backpacks for younger children who may have no one at home to prepare their meals.It would help stock refrigerators and shelves for high school students trying to bring enough food home for their families.Most importantly, it would give Woodland Hills students something every child deserves: the security of knowing that there will be food available when they need it.
Your support makes all of this possible. While we continue working toward our long-term goal of building a $100,000 endowment that will ensure these programs can serve Woodland Hills students for generations to come, we must also raise approximately $10,000 each school year to keep Backpacks of Hope and the Woodland Hills High School Free Food Pantry operating today.
Every gift—whether it's $10, $100, or $1,000—helps put food in a child's backpack, stock the shelves of our pantry, and provide peace of mind to families facing difficult circumstances. Together, we can ensure that no Woodland Hills student has to worry about where their next meal will come from.
Your generosity today helps feed students now while building a permanent legacy of hope for the future.