PASCAGOULA — Every Friday, food bags go home in the backpacks of 350 students in Pascagoula, providing enough meals to feed them throughout the weekend.

The Backpack Buddies program has operated for 20 years under school nurse Colleen Larsen, who became involved after witnessing students’ food insecurity firsthand.

“When I became a school nurse, I saw students getting food out of the garbage can to take home,” Larsen said. “That’s when I became involved in it, and it kind of just blossomed from there.”

The program runs solely on donations and volunteers.

While there is a large supply of volunteers, Larsen said an increase in student applications has created concerns about meeting demand.

“I think the parents are now starting to realize that they may not be getting the benefits,” Larse

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