Now-August 10, 2010
Operation Homefront of Arizona announces it will help military families to prepare for their back-to-school needs by supplying backpacks loaded with education supplies. The nonprofit organization is launching its fourth annual Back-to-School Brigade program to collect new school supplies for school age children.
Operation Homefront of Arizona hopes to distribute more than 5,000 backpacks filled with education supplies statewide. Items needed for donation include: binders, backpacks, spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebook paper, rulers, colored pencils, calculators, erasers, etc.
This program saves military families a major education expense, especially those experiencing financial hardships. Last year was a very good year, back-to-school backpack distributions increased 132% in 2009, with approximately 19,000 distributed nationally. The 2009 program resulted in more than $1.2 million in education supply savings to military families.
“School supplies are important—and expensive for families, especially in these tough economic times,” says Jim Knotts, chief executive officer, Operation Homefront. “With a 191% increase last year in requests for food assistance, we know our military families are struggling to meet the most basic of needs. Without donations from the community, military families are forced to spend hundreds of dollars to provide their children with basic items needed for a quality education. These school supplies make a huge difference.”
For general information or to participate in the Back-to-School Brigade program, please contact a local Operation Homefront of Arizona. Those interested in contributing to the program, but short on time to shop for items to donate, may sponsor a child’s back pack for $35.00 by clicking on the “Donate Now!” button on the chapter web site www.operationhomefront.net/az.
© 2010
