May 21, 2021 – The Charlotte Hornets and Official Hunger Relief Partner Food Lion Feeds are distributing 3,000 backpacks to local children facing food insecurity that include eight nutritious, ready-to-eat food items for weekends or holidays when school meals are not available. In separate events earlier this month, the full Hornets team and a group of Hornets and Food Lion volunteers packed the backpacks, which are being distributed to students at more than 10 schools in the Charlotte area as part of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s Backpack Program. According to a 2020 study presented by Feeding America, one in five children struggles with hunger in North Carolina, and the Backpack Program provides over 200,000 backpacks annually across the 17 counties Second Harvest serves.