Back to School Backpack Drive 2021

Back to School Backpack Drive

YOU DID IT!

Thanks to the generosity of our beloved community, our donors raised $10,000 in less than two weeks to help 200 local kids get the backpacks and supplies they need to help them learn and succeed this new school year.

We are also grateful to receive 75 toddler-sized backpacks from Redeemer School in San Rafael. Plus, Jaden, a Boy Scout with Troop 1 in Mill Valley launched an Eagle Scout Service Project to fundraise for additional backpacks. Families started collecting their Target gift cards and backpacks this week and are looking forward to choosing the supplies they really need!

We are so grateful to the efforts of Redeemer School, Jaden and every single donor that contributed this year to our Back to School Backpack Drive!
Registration is now open through September 17th and families can collect gift cards through September 24^th, 2021.

Learn how to register >>

About Our Back to School Backpack Drive

This time last year, parents and teachers were struggling with the need to educate children remotely due to the pandemic. Now, with many teachers and older students vaccinated, schools are preparing to return to in-person learning in the coming week or two. After online and hybrid schooling, many schools in Marin County were able to create safe in-person learning environments. Now with summer break coming to a close and high vaccination rates in Marin County, schools are preparing to return to in-person learning, a new normal that is both exciting and worrying for kids.

Widespread job losses drastically affected household income for those who were already struggling. Many have had to choose between paying rent or buying food, which Ritter Center mitigates through rental assistance and food pantry distribution, keeping families housed. For those on the brink, supplies for students returning school this month are a luxury. Having inadequate supplies sets kids up to fail in school, may cause them embarrassment, and can damage their self-confidence, all of which inhibits their enthusiasm for education. Let’s help our local families put much-needed backpacks and school supplies in the hands of kids who needs them. They need pencils, pens, notebooks, and a backpack to carry to school. Some kids even need scientific calculators or laptops. We can help them together. Will you set children up to succeed in school by giving them the supplies they need?

Help us raise $10,000 to send Marin kids back to school with a brand new backpack and supplies.

$5 Buys

$10 Buys

$15 Buys

$20 Buys

$25 Buys

$50 Buys

In previous years, families came to Ritter Center to pick out a backpack – it was a community event we all loved. Last year, COVID-19 health and safety protocols prevented us from accepting in-kind donations and hosting in-person drop off days. We were forced to adopt a new system for the Back-to-School program and ensure safe distribution while our communities sheltered-in-place. Kids still needed school supplies, now learning from home, and our supporters rose to the challenge; they donated online so Ritter Center could provide families with Target gift cards, with which kids could purchase their own Back-to-School items.

Understandably, this was a break in tradition and a disappointing shift for our donor community. Yet, we learned something new: families love taking their children to the store to pick out their own school items —kids can select a backpack in their favorite color or notebooks they love to use. That sense of agency and self-efficacy is invaluable; when kids have the rare opportunity to choose exactly what they want, it truly becomes their own.

With that in mind, Ritter Center will continue helping families maintain or restore their sense of dignity through the Back-to-School program, by providing them with gift cards so their children can happily pick out their own items.

$50 purchases one backpack filled with supplies. Each family with a school-age child will receive a $50 Target gift card to purchase the backpack and supplies kids need. Families with multiple children will receive a gift card for each child. You can contribute the cost of supplies, the full cost of a backpack and supplies, or even consider supporting the backpacks and supplies of multiple children.

Your generous support will have a lasting impact on the kids in our community.

$5 – Buys Pens & Pencils or Wipes & Sanitizer
$10 – Buys a Pack of Notebooks or Masks
$15 – Buys a Pack of Binders, Ruler & Stapler
$20 – Buys a Scientific Calculator
$25 – Buys a Backpack
$50 – Buys a Backpack + Supplies

DONATE TO GIVE KIDS BACKPACKS & SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Please do not mail Target gift cards to Ritter Center. Please donate online or send a check to:

Ritter Center
Back-to-School Program
PO Box 3517
San Rafael, CA 94912

THANK YOU!

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