Telethon raises over $66,000 for Backpack for Hunger

Fox Chapel Area School District students held their 34th annual telethon December 22, 2023, and raised $66,775. This year’s total brings the money raised by Fox Chapel Area students and staff to more than $1,188,268 over the last 34 years for various local and regional charities.

The telethon raised money for the local organization Backpack for Hunger and involved students from all six schools in the Fox Chapel Area School District (Fairview, Hartwood, Kerr, and O’Hara Elementary Schools; Dorseyville Middle School; and Fox Chapel Area High School). Student, teacher, parent and community representatives participated in the telethon benefitting Backpack for Hunger by making donations during the event.

The telethon was coordinated by the Fox Chapel Area High School Fox Leadership Council and the video production students of the high school who plan and produce the event.

Backpack for Hunger is a local volunteer organization that provides weekend food for students in the Fox Chapel Area School District. The group provides children with nourishing food over the weekends via bags of food that are sent home with them every Friday. Additionally, the group also provides food bags to district children during the summer months through various programs which service the district. Since its inception in 2015, the group has distributed more than 85,000 bags of food.