Manistee Blessings in a Backpack

08/12/2026

Preview of some of the events happening
Saturday, October 31, 2026

Look for the official interactive page to go live by the end of August.

Manistee Fall Festival is a free event for locals & visitors and is made possible thanks to our generous sponsors, local businesses, non profits and the Fall Festival committee.

If you are a small business and want to:
1. Volunteer or be a sponsor
2. Join our business scarecrow contest
3. Put a coupon on the Fall Perks & Promos sheet
4. Offer a restaurant food and/or drink special
5. Partner with a brick & mortar to give out candy

Or have questions. Contact Anita at 734-890-7744
* no vendors or food trucks at this event*

* Manistee Blessings in a Backpack provides their own items to distribute *

08/12/2026

Thank you so much to UpNorthLive and Katrina Bailey for the interview this morning and giving us the opportunity to talk about our Program.

Here’s the link for anyone that would like to view it.

https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/blessings-in-a-backpack-aims-helps-with-food-insecurity-manistee-county-northern-michigan

Send a message to learn more

08/11/2026

We are so excited to share the Manistee Blessings in a Backpack will be on television tomorrow at 6:00 and at 6:30 on Channel 7/4 with Katrina Bailey!

If you get a chance, check it out!

Send a message to learn more

08/10/2026

Thank you to Boyer Family Dentistry, PLLC for their generous donation of toothpaste and toothbrushes for our kids this year! Thank you to Jan Fifarek for taking this project on. 🦷🪥

08/10/2026

Thank you so much to Waters Edge Denistry for their donation of toothpaste and toothbrushes before we start the school year!

We appreciate it so much.

Continued thanks to Jan Fifarek for taking this project on.

07/29/2026

We would like to thank Honest Dental Solutions for this contribution of 72 toothbrushes and toothpaste for our kids this fall.

We always try to supplement our weekend food program with extras like these toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Last year, we were able to send out toothbrushes and toothpaste 2 times!

Thank you, again and thank you to our wonderful volunteer, Jan Fifarek, for taking this on for us.

We appreciate you!

07/23/2026

Donations like these help us make sure our program can continue to feed the children of our community!

07/13/2026

We are so very excited that we are able to share the packing schedule for next year.

Again, special thanks to Manistee County Council on Aging for continuing to allow us to use their facilities.

Please feel free to share.

06/01/2026

Good morning everyone!

Our food did not come in today :( SO we will not be packing this week. This was supposed to be our final packing of the year, so we will not be rescheduling. BUT on a VERY positive note, all kids and pantries received extra food last packing to ensure that community donations and our extra items made it to our kiddos!

The program coordinators will be meeting soon and a packing schedule for next year will be published as soon as it is finalized.

Once again, we could NOT do it without the AMAZING volunteers that we have in this community. From people coming to pack, helping us at our Culver's fundraisers, to donating your pantry and hygeine items, we are SO thankful for all of the support.

We are looking forward to another amazing school year next year of feeding the kids! If ever you have questions, want to be a drop off location for donations, or want to help our program, please do not hesitate to send us a message! We try to respond as fast as possible and our program coordinators don't stop during the summer!!

Thank you all again,

-Theresa, Wendy, Kristin, Suzie & the Manistee blessings in a backpack crew!