Donations Being Accepted for ‘Backpack to School’ Program

BackpacksORLEANS – The new school year is right around the corner and a Cape Cod organization is once again hoping to help families in need prepare their children.

The Homeless Prevention Council will hold its annual “Backpack to School” for the 15th time.

In 2015 the program served 168 K through 12th grade students from 82 local families.

High school students recieve an L.L. Bean backpack that they can use through high school and college and grade school students receive a new backpack each year.

The council is accepting monetary donations at its location on Old Tote Road in Orleans or online at homelessonline.org.

Donations of school supplies can also be dropped off and include #2 pencils, erasers, blue and black pens, pencil sharpeners, pencil cases that attach to binders, Crayola crayons and markers, Crayloa colored pencils, highlighters, subject dividers, reinforcements, spiral notebooks, marbled composition books, one, two and three-inch three-ring binders and flash drives.

“If you sit down and add up how much it costs to get a backpack it’s over $100,” said Maureen Linehan, a case manager with Homeless Prevention Council and backpack coordinator.

Volunteers with the program go to the schools to find out what each student needs for their classes and they fill the backpack to each child’s individual needs.

“This we found was a great way to help our families to be able to continue to pay their rent and take care of their other bills,” she said. “So we can take care of this.”

Linehan expects the program to serve about 150 to 160 students once again this year.

She said the need for the program continues to grow and thinks the housing crisis has a lot to do with that.

“Families are struggling to find places they can afford and the rents keep going higher and higher and this is one way families can budget their money a little better,” Linehan said.

She said the program needs at least $10,000 each year to be successful.

“It’s all volunteer driven. It’s donor driven. It’s the community coming together to make this happen,” Linehan said. “It’s just a beautiful program.”

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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