Backpack Buddies is a four-star charity. It has an above-average results reporting score, is financially transparent, and has overhead costs within a reasonable range. 

Founded in 2012 and officially named Community First Foundation, Backpack Buddies gives bags of food to children in need on Friday afternoons. Many children rely on school programs for meals, but these only run on weekdays. Backpack Buddies works to decrease food insecurity over weekends.   

This charity essentially runs a single program distributing food to children across British Columbia.  

Backpack Buddies talks with teachers and administrators to identify which children are in need. In F2022, the charity distributed 127,225 bags of food across 63 communities. The food in these bags could be used to make 1,195,739 meals. For F2022, the charity drove 40,500 kilometres around the province to give out food.

In F2022, Backpack Buddies received $2.8m in Canadian donations. It also received $8k in government funding (less than 1% of total revenue). Administrative costs and fundraising costs are not reported separately on Community First Foundation’s audited financial statements, so Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA to report these costs. Administrative costs are 5% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 13%. For every dollar donated, 87 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Backpack Buddies has $2.1m in net funding reserves which can cover annual program costs for around 11 months. 

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Backpack Buddies for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.  

Updated on June 13, 2023 by Clive Stevens.