Operation HeartF.E.L.T. Foundation, Inc. is a grassroots non-profit backpack program located in Hernando County, FL. We are a 100% volunteer organization where 99.2% of all monetary donations go toward the purchase of food. Our mission is to provide nutritious meals to Hernando County children suffering from food insecurity.

In December 2009, Operation HeartF.E.L.T. (feeding empty little tummies) started with six families and nine children. We began to grow rapidly as the community and schools learned about our mission to meet the hunger needs of school children in our community.

Operation HeartF.E.L.T. services on average about 250 students per week who have been identified by the schools as needing our help. Our HeartF.E.L.T. children receive a backpack every Friday or before a holiday break. The backpack contains six meals for the weekend. During holiday breaks, the bags are adjusted accordingly. Our volunteers are responsible for shopping for food, stocking our warehouse shelves, packing the backpacks and delivering to and picking up the backpacks from schools. The bags are not identifiable to anyone other than the child, with no reference to the contents. Our volunteers work closely with principals and guidance counselors to ensure that our students' names and personal information remain confidential. We take the privacy of our students very seriously.

Operation HeartF.E.L.T. Foundation provides over 260,000 meals annually to our children during the school year. As our numbers continue to grow, we are doing our part to ensure the children referred to us receive the food necessary to improve their physical, cognitive and emotional health. The board and its volunteers have made a pledge that "no child in our community should go to bed hungry."

For more information visit our website.

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Facebook-Operation HeartF.E.L.T.

Instagram-@operationheartfelt