Often, children who do not have the proper school supplies are too ashamed to admit it and end up falling behind. Students cannot do their best if they do have the right tools. With 23% of registered Calvert County Public School students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, it was clear to Children’s Aid, Inc. we have students, neighbors, who will start school without the proper school supplies. That’s the reason the Calvert County nonprofit started Operation Backpack in 2009. Their goal is to highlight the importance of education as well as help students approach the beginning of the school year with a greater sense of confidence and hope.
As Operation Backpack 2015 comes to a close, Children’s Aid, Inc. would like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the community who supported their school supply drive and the business owners who allowed collection boxes to be placed in their businesses. They would also like to recognize long-time Operation Backpack volunteer Gayle Haines for organizing a school supply drive within The Potter’s Place Christian Fellowship again this year. The church members’ generosity and volunteerism is truly commendable.
With school supplies that were donated at various locations and financial support from Children’s Aid, the HELP Association, Inc., Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative and the Optimist Club of Calvert County, Operation Backpack was able to provide new backpacks, school supplies and a new age-appropriate book to 172 Calvert County students for the 2015-2016 school year. “It is very rewarding to see the smiles on the faces of the children when the backpack they had hoped for (Frozen, Avengers, Sponge Bob, etc.) is handed to them,” said Krista Brezina, Executive Director of Children’s Aid, Inc.
“Children’s Aid, Inc. is a family-run charity with no paid staff and we would not have been able to prepare and distribute 172 backpacks and supplies without help. We would like to thank the 32 men, women and children volunteers who gave up a Saturday morning to organize school supplies, pack backpacks and set up book tables. It was heart-warming to see friends volunteering together and even entire families who came to help us pack the backpacks for distribution.” Brezina stated.