GRAND FORKS – United Way is facing a 270% increase in the number of food bags they produce weekly after taking over the Backpack Program for Grand Forks Public Schools.

The Backpack Program provides meals and snacks for students to take home on the weekends. For more than 10 years, Northlands Rescue Mission served students in Grand Forks public schools. In August, the organization announced that it would no longer be able to run the program.

United Way, a nonprofit focused on food and housing insecurity in the region, will be running the program in Northlands' place. Heather Novak, the executive director of United Way, said when she heard that Northlands Rescue Mission would no longer be offering the meals, she “slightly panicked,” but then her team stepped up to meet the community's nee

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