Largest single-year corporate commitment received in the nonprofit’s history will provide a full month of weekend food bags for Baltimore City schoolchildren and their families
BALTIMORE, Aug. 18, 2026 — Weekend Backpacks Baltimore, a nonprofit that provides weekly bags of nutritious food to Baltimore City schoolchildren and their families facing food insecurity, has received the largest corporate gift and engagement in its 10-year history through a new partnership with Heritage | MileOne Autogroup. Beginning with the start of the school year, the partnership will help provide nutritious weekend meals to families during the critical first month of school, when students do not have access to school-provided meals.
As part of this historic effort, Heritage | MileOne Autogroup is investing $80,000 to fund an entire month of Weekend Backpacks Baltimore's food bag program. This donation will provide 8,000 bags, each containing enough food for a family of three for the weekend. It will impact an estimated 24,000 people delivering approximately 144,000 nutritious meals throughout the month.
In addition, Heritage | MileOne Autogroup employees and leadership will donate their time to participate in a series of assembly-line-style food packing events at multiple dealerships across the Baltimore metropolitan area to pack each 10-pound weekend food bag. The bags will then be transported to participating Baltimore City schools, where they will be distributed to students before the weekend.
“The partnership with Weekend Backpacks Baltimore is one example of the many ways MileOne Autogroup supports nonprofits through our MileOneCares philanthropic program. We believe in supporting not only the communities we serve, but also the communities we call home. Through this effort, we are providing nutritious meals while helping families save approximately $50 in grocery costs that can go toward essentials such as transportation, clothing and school supplies,” said Amanda Kodeck, chief giving officer for MileOne Autogroup. “By helping reduce roadblocks like food insecurity, we hope to support children and their families, empower students and provide them with the resources they need to succeed. This effort also allows our employees to be part of the solution by engaging in hands-on community service and helping make a meaningful difference in the lives of local families.”
“This partnership with Heritage | MileOne Autogroup will make a meaningful difference for the students and families we serve,” said Fred Hassell, executive director of Weekend Backpacks Baltimore. “Food insecurity can create challenges that extend beyond access to meals, impacting a child’s ability to focus, participate and succeed. Through the support of Heritage | MileOne Autogroup and its employees, we can continue providing reliable weekend food resources to families and help remove one more barrier for students as they work toward a successful school year. The start of the school year can be a particularly challenging time for families as they manage increased expenses for school supplies, clothing, shoes and other necessities. With rising food costs adding to those challenges, reliable access to nutritious weekend meals can provide critical support for children and their families.”
This partnership between Heritage | MileOne Autogroup and Weekend Backpacks Baltimore supports the nonprofit’s ongoing efforts to provide food bags to Baltimore City schoolchildren and their families because hunger doesn’t take the weekend off.
Originally published on Patch.com