Supervisor Valerie Brown and The Office Depot Foundation recently donated backpacks containing essential school supplies to both the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, and Sonoma Valley Boys & Girls Club. The program is part of the Foundation’s Ninth Annual National Backpack Program in partnership with the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL).
“This is an extremely beneficial program,” said Brown. “I am honored to have the opportunity to present these backpacks to deserving students. As we have seen the economy fluctuate over the last year, many parents have struggled to figure out how they will be able to purchase supplies for their children. As another school year begins, public-private partnerships like this are even more important. I commend the Office Depot Foundation on its efforts to make children’s lives easier when it comes to having basic school supplies, which many of us take for granted.”
This year’s backpacks come in five different color schemes, blending orange, blue, red, purple, green and pink. They are specially designed to meet the needs of students in kindergarten through the fifth grade, the backpacks feature two front pockets and wide, padded straps for comfort and support. Each backpack includes a pencil pouch containing essential back-to-school items − a ruler, four crayons, a glue stick, a pen, a pencil, a pencil sharpener and an eraser.
This year, Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation are celebrating the donation of 2 million backpacks since this program began in 2001. NFWL has been partnering with the backpack program for four years and this year, the Office Depot Foundation will provide the National Foundation for Women Legislators with more than 18,000 backpacks for distribution by women elected officials in all 50 states.
Hundreds of backpacks distributed to local children
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