Food for Kids on Weekends - EBCAP's 401 Gives Focus

On April 1, 2021, East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) will participate in the United Way of Rhode Island’s (UWRI) Second Annual “401Gives,” a statewide day of giving that encourages all Rhode Islanders to support the efforts of more than 400 local nonprofits. The “401Gives” campaign does more than strengthen Rhode Island’s nonprofit community, it unites communities around causes in which they truly believe.

UWRI’s inaugural “401Gives” campaign was launched on April 1, 2020 just as Rhode Island and the rest of the world were beginning to deal with the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The “401Gives” 2020 fundraising campaign was initially about individuals supporting their favorite charities, but was dramatically altered by the COVID-19 crisis,” states Dennis Roy, EBCAP President and CEO. “It turned into a collective statewide relief effort to help vulnerable communities greatly affected by the pandemic,” he adds.

One year later, vulnerable communities throughout Rhode Island are still struggling and their reliance on local nonprofits continues as their need for support services increases daily. Knowing that more work needs to be done, EBCAP is very much looking forward to once again participating in UWRI’s “401Gives” campaign. Much like last year, all funds raised by EBCAP’s “401Gives” will benefit the Newport Family and Child Opportunity Zone’s (NFCOZ) Backpack Feeding Program. This program provides eligible Pell Elementary School students with weekly backpacks of food to eat on weekends when food can be scarce for families. “The current health crisis has made this program more important than ever,” states Christine Arouth, Director of NFCOZ. “We are seeing families who never needed food support programs now reaching out for assistance. Working in partnership with the community and the school district, NFCOZ utilizes the Backpack Feeding Program to quickly get food to families in need,” she adds.

According to Arouth, the number of students served and the number of weeks the Backpack Feeding program is able to operate are fully dependent on the ability to leverage funding each year. “Due to the generosity of the community last year, the Backpack Feeding program is providing 125 students with weekly food bags for the entire 2020-2021 school year and an additional 100 students will receive food bags for six weeks during the summer,” states Arouth.

EBCAP’s “401Gives” campaign starts at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 and community members will have 24 hours to make donations. Visit www.ebcap.org and click on the “401 Gives” link at the top of the page for more details, including information on how donors can become Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Champions and use social media to reach out to friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors to generate more donations.

East Bay Community Action Program is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation that provides a wide array of health and human services to the residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay, including the municipalities of East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, and Jamestown. For more information regarding programs and services, please visit www.ebcap.org.