The Penn State Altoona Department of Athletics and the Student-Athlete Advisory Council partnered with the Mountain Lion Backpack Program this past weekend to collect donations for local children.

During Friday night’s home women’s basketball game and Saturday afternoon’s home men’s and women’s swim meet and men’s basketball game, the Mountain Lion Backpack Program – with help from members of Penn State Altoona Athletics and SAAC – collected food items and monetary donations from fans to benefit children in the Altoona area.

The Mountain Lion Backpack Program provides local Altoona area elementary school children with backpacks full of food every Friday for 32 weeks out of the school year. For many students, the meals they eat during school hours are their only meals of the week. Many children return to school on Monday morning sick, tired, dizzy, and unable to focus because of hunger. The Mountain Lion Backpack Program attempts to address this issue, and it feeds an average of 1,000 local elementary school children each week through its efforts.

Thanks to the generosity of the fans who attended this past Friday and Saturday’s home sporting events in the Adler Athletic Complex, the Mountain Lion Backpack Program will be able to provide local kids with the food they need to be prepared to learn.

For more information on the Mountain Lion Backpack Program, as well as how to donate or get involved, visit their website at https://www.mountainlionbackpackprogram.org/.