|
Click the logos below to read and view press clips about what Operation Backpack is doing this year! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A note from Paige about Operation Backpack
|
One of the most devastating consequences of homelessness is the impact it has on a child’s education. There are nearly 11,000 school-age children living in New York City homeless shelters on any given day. Most of these children will go back to school in September without the basic school supplies they need unless we help.
In 2010, Operation Backpack provided new, filled backpacks to more than 7,000 children. We hope in 2011 to see that no child in a New York City shelter is left out.
Operation Backpack is thriving in 2011 in ways it never has before. When Volunteers Of America first started this campaign it had 20 corporations contributing. Last year the list of contributing companies was close to 90 -- some sponsoring with a financial donation and some holding their own school supply drives at their offices.
The list of corporate donors is very impressive -- Frank Crystal & Company and Warnaco donated good ol’ fashioned cash. We also had in-kind donations that were the backbone of our efforts. Van Wagner donated the phone kiosks for advertising.
Time Warner donated 300 hours of airtime for the PSA. Fed Ex donated their trucks and drivers to collect all the empty backpacks and school supplies from the corporations that held drives over the previous four weeks. The supplies were brought to an empty real-estate lot that was our sorting location. It was in that space that “Sort Week” ensues. Volunteers from the different companies show up to help organize and fill the backpacks. It is a mighty job. All backpacks have to be filled with the appropriate supplies for each particular grade. It is not one size fits all. The backpacks are actually labeled according to grade level so an 11th grade student doesn’t end up with a 5th grader’s supplies or vice versa. It’s a very tangible charity to be a part of because you know that every single backpack you touch is going to a child. Seeing the mounds of filled backpacks is thrilling and sad all at the time. Even in the mayhem of busy volunteers and backpacks there were still moments that made me pause. And seeing the number of young kids that helped out was fantastic. We hope that their participation in Operation Backpack is the beginning of a lifetime dedicated to philanthropy.
We’ve had a marked increase in media attention as well. NY1 did two LIVE hits in the morning and then ran the story all day. I was a guest on the CW Morning Show, and Rachel Weinstein (OB Director and my close friend) joined me on “Happy Hour” on FoxBN. Photographers from the Associated Press came to the sort space, as did Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President, and my dear friend Leon Hall, of red carpet fame. The culminating cap to our fabulous sort week was being invited to ring the closing bell at the NYSE. Wow! It was delightful to be recognized and honored in that way. And let's face it . . . it was just cool.
All in all a smash success. I am so proud to donate my efforts to this worthy cause. |
|
