Backpacks full of school supplies to be given to children of food pantry clients

Deadline for accepting backpacks is July 27th

Our food pantry serves about 500 school-age children each month. Every August we distribute backpacks full of school supplies to every child whose parents are food pantry clients. This initiative emphasizes the importance of education, defrays an additional cost faced by our clients, and helps kids start the year right.

If you can’t assemble a backpack full of school supplies please donate to help us buy the supplies we need to put them together.

Backpack distribution will start on Wednesday, August 1st. Therefore, all backpacks with supplies will need to be dropped off at our office by Friday, July 27th.

We ask our community partners to pre-pack backpacks, rather than donate individual supplies. Donations can be dropped off at our office at 105 Adams St., Quincy MA: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Two types of backpacks are needed – one for grades K-5 and another for grades 6-12.

ALL backpacks should include:

• spiral notebooks
• composition notebook
• 2 pocket folders
• #2 pencils
• box of tissues

For the grades K-5 (“Little kids”) backpacks, please include:

• colored pencils
• washable markers
• crayons
• glue sticks
• Clorox wipes

For the grades 6-12 (“Big kids”) backpacks, please include:

• a scientific calculator
• index cards
• pens (black or blue, no gel)
• highlighters
• 2” three-ring binder with dividers
• a combination lock

Please label each individual bag “Little Kid” or “Big Kid” to expedite the distribution process. Please make the labels large and easy to read.

If you can’t assemble a backpack full of school supplies, please donate today to help us buy the supplies we will need to reach our goal of 500 filled backpacks.

If you have any questions:

If you have questions or would like to participate, please email [email protected] or call 617-773-6203 x19. More information can be found here: https://interfaithsocialservices.org/backpack-drive/