Pearl Jam Donate $50,000 to Blessings in a Backpack Charity

2011-12-05

Story by Anne Erickson

Pearl Jam help feed 216 children at Wileman Elementary School in Wisconsin

Between their Vitalogy Foundation and donating time to loads of charity concerts over the years, it’s safe to call Pearl Jam do-gooders. Now, the ‘90s grunge rock band can add another charity effort to their lengthy list: Blessings in a Backpack.

Eddie Vedder and his troop have donated $50,000 to Blessings in a Backpack, a program to feed 216 children over a three-year period at Wileman Elementary School in Delavan, Wis., according to a release. Beginning in 2012, the organization and grocery partner Piggly Wiggly will guarantee that each of the children get a backpack filled with food for the weekend each Friday of the school year. It’s easy to forget that many kids go hungry over the weekend, when school day lunch programs aren’t in operation, so the food-packed backpacks, truly, are a blessing.

Stan Curtis, founder and CEO of Blessings in a Backpack, had this to say about the rockers’ donation: “The legend of Pearl Jam continues to grow in the eyes of not only their fans, but now in the eyes of American schoolchildren as they have ensured for the next three years that schoolchildren in Delavan will get the opportunity to be totally, nutritiously nourished.” Could you be more proud to be a Pearl Jam fan right now?

Pearl Jam’s donation came from their Vitalogy Foundation, the group’s solely funded nonprofit organization. To find out more about the backpack program, visit the Blessings in a Backpack website. In other Pearl Jam news, guitarist Mike McCready recently revealed that the group are in the midst of writing songs for a new album, which he hopes to have out by March of 2012. Read more of what McCready says about the new Pearl Jam nuggets, here.