What is Operation Backpack®?
Operation Backpack® is a Volunteers of America initiative to fill in the gap for children experiencing homelessness and poverty. Your donations will help us provide backpacks and school supplies to unhoused and underprivileged children staying at VOA’s emergency family shelters.
Whether you’re looking to host a donation drive at your company or make a donation on your own, you can make a difference for kids in our community through Operation Backpack®! Together, we can help ensure the children the Rochester community achieve academic success despite their circumstances.
How to get involved?
Step 1: Contact our Director of Development at dargentini@voaupny.org for more information about hosting a donation drive with our Giving Guide and digital toolkit.
Step 2: Host an in-person donation drive at your business, church, school or organization by setting up clearly marked boxes in well-trafficked areas to collect new backpacks and commonly needed school supplies. OR make it a digital donation drive, and shop online through our online supply drive wish list and have the items delivered directly to VOA. Monetary donations are also accepted to help us purchase needed items.
Step 3: Spread the word by posting flyers, sharing on social media, sending emails, and telling your friends, family, and coworkers how they can help.
Step 4: After your donation drive, please reach back out to VOA so we can coordinate a timeframe to drop off your items at our Administrative Office and report your donation totals so we can share our gratitude for your hard work. Share photos of your efforts!
FACTS & FIGURES
• On average, school supplies cost families about $80-$120 per child, depending on the grade level and specific school requirements.
• One in five school children in the U.S. live below the federally defined poverty line.
• Students from low-income families are less likely to come to school with the supplies they need, affecting participation, confidence, and academic performance.
• Well over 90% of public school teachers pay for school supplies out of pocket, without being reimbursed, according to the National Education Association.
