JF&CS Equips Kids for School

Picture an excited five-year-old boy, ready for kindergarten with his first backpack, shouting, “Mommy, my own backpack! My own notebook!”

This fall JF&CS equipped 200 happy children with their very own backpacks and school supplies. With the cost of school supplies reaching $50 or more per child, the backpacks were a practical and fun way to help children in low-income families of all faiths.

The idea for the program emerged this summer. While running the camp scholarship program, we discovered that these same families had significant needs related to going back to school. Most of the families we serve have difficulty finding enough money for utilities, rent, and medicine, and their children did not have the school supplies and clothing they needed.

The “Back to School Kits” were durable L.L.Bean backpacks, meant to last, stuffed with age-appropriate school supplies including notebooks, binders, folders, paper, calculators, markers, pencils, pens, and crayons. The bags also included a $50 TJX gift card for each child for clothing or shoes.

The backpacks were stuffed and decorated by volunteers from the JF&CS CHAI Works program, which gives work experience to people who have disabilities and live in supported housing.

One grateful parent wrote, “Thank you so much for the school supplies and gift card for my kids. It may seem like a little thing for most people, but to me your gifts mean all the world. Since I became seriously ill and now have to rely on others just to survive, I have not been able to provide for my kids in a way that I would like. You enable me (and my kids) to live with dignity, and for that we are truly grateful.” Learn more.