News
Backpack Drive
Help a Child Rise, Achieve & Succeed!
Back to school time can be a stressful time for many low-income families – especially those who can’t afford school supplies for their children.
You have the power to help a child succeed!
Donate a backpack and other needed supplies to our Back to School Drive and support the education of children grades K-12.
What Children Need to Succeed:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Small Backpack • Pencil box • Crayons • Colored Markers • Washable Markers • Ballpoint Pens • Highlighters • No. 2 Pencils • Erasers • Composition Notebooks • Pencil Sharpener • Glue Sticks • Mini Stapler and staples • Blunt-tipped Scissors • Plastic Folders • Wide-Ruled Notebook • Assorted Construction Paper •Ruler • Index Cards • Subject Dividers
MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL
Large Backpack • Pencil Pouch • Blue or black ballpoint pens • No. 2 Pencils • Erasers • Highlighters • Permanent Markers • Three-Ring Binders • Loose-leaf paper • Spiral Bound & Composition Notebooks • Subject Dividers • Stapler and Staples • Index Cards • Plastic Folders • Glue • Post-Its • White Out • Protractor • Ruler • Scissors • Calculator
Help us fill in the gaps!
In addition to donations of backpacks and school supplies, we accept financial contributions to help us buy additional items to make sure children and youth are heading back to school with all they need. Contribute to campaign and share with your social networks to help raise awareness and funds for us to send kids in need back to school on the right foot.
To learn more about opportunities to donate supplies or funds for school supplies for families in need, see our Backpack Drive flyer or contact us at [email protected] or at 212-437-3551. Contact us to coordinate pickup or delivery of any donations.
For the past few years, we have been able to send all the children supported by our Family Stabilization programs back to school with a backpack filled with school supplies to start the new school year right. Each summer, we collect each summer backpacks brimming with notebooks, binders, pencils, crayons, rulers, glue stocks, and erasers. The backpacks are handed out at a family back-to-school festival in August. In 2018, we provided backpacks and school supplies to more than 700 children and youth!
“Many families in our Preventive Services program cannot afford to buy approximately $100 worth of school supplies for each of their children,” said Jack Toone. “It lifts a weight off their shoulders to know that their children have supplies to do their work and retain what they learn in school.”
Rising Ground’s Preventive Services stabilizes families at risk of losing custody of their children. Our therapists work with families in their home to identify and overcome challenges, such as substance abuse, inadequate food and housing, unemployment, negative family dynamics, and other obstacles that threaten the family unit. Our services help families acquire the tools, skills, and supports they need to nurture and raise their children in a safe and secure home.