OPERATION HOMEFRONT LAUNCHES DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR
BACK-TO-SCHOOL BRIGADE FOR MILITARY CHILDREN
• Program slated to assist thousands
Jul 14, 2010 – MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CONNETICUTTE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, MAINE and VERMONT – The New England Chapter hopes to donate 1000,00 backpacks locally. Nationally, Operation Homefront hopes to distribute more than 21,000 backpacks filled with school supplies this year. Items needed for donation include: backpacks, spiral notebooks, notebook paper, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, rulers, colored pencils, calculators, erasers, etc.
This program helps to off-set the cost of sending military children back to school, especially those experiencing financial hardships. The 2009 program resulted in more than $1.2 million in education supply savings to military families with more than 19,000 backpacks distributed nationally.
"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."
To donate school supplies to a military child, please contact Bill Moore at 508-713-3362 or Bill.Moore@OperationHomefront.net. If you are interested in contributing to the Back-to-School Brigade program, but short on time to shop for items to donate, you may sponsor a child's backpack for $35.00 by visiting www.operationhomefront.net/newengland and clicking on the "Donate Now!" button. Specify "Back-to-School Brigade program" in the comments.
