It started with one backpack, or rather, one backpack program. Micah's Backpack was an initiative launched in Blacksburg, Virginia. The group, organized by members of St. Michael Lutheran Church, initially started by distributing backpacks full of food to five children from low-resource families. Now, the outreach has grown to feed nearly three hundred children. In addition to Micah's Backpack, new programs have flourished under the Micah's Caring Initiative: Micah's Mobile Backpack, Micah's Garden, Micah's Soup for Seniors, and Micah's Closet. All provide vital services to the community.

Authors Jennie Hodge and Nancy Franz detail the beginnings of the Micah's Caring Initiative to inspire readers and to provide a case study in how to create a community-outreach program that serves the needs of low-resource families. They focus on building bonds between dedicated community organizations and passionate individuals. Many people in a community care deeply for their neighbors and town and may not know the outlets or initiatives they can use to give back. Hodge and Franz provide step-by-step instructions for identifying vulnerable areas in a community and building an action plan and organization to address them. Anyone who dreams of productive community engagement will find their advice invaluable.

Jennie Hodge recalls stories her father told her of mayonnaise sandwiches and going hungry. Those stories and others led her to advocate for children's food programs. In 2011, she became the director of Micah's Backpack, a weekend food program for low-resource children. In 2012, Hodge started Micah's Garden, a community garden co-op. She went on to create Micah's Mobile Backpack, which broadened the scope of the food program. She lives with her family in Summerfield, North Carolina.

Nancy Franz spent thirty-three years as a faculty member with the Cooperative Extension System. She served as the director of professional development, associate dean for extension and outreach, and the director of extension and outreach at Iowa State University. She has worked with extension systems in Wisconsin, New York, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Iowa. She has published over one hundred articles, books, and other works. She lives with her husband in Ames, Iowa.