South County Outreach Backpack Drive and Event Back for Another Year

Irvine, CA – (July 24, 2017) South County Outreach is currently in the middle of its Annual Backpack Drive. The nonprofit organization is currently seeking donations of new backpacks and supplies from local businesses, organizations and individuals.

Each year, South County Outreach galvanizes the local community into action, getting neighbors to assemble backpacks full of school supplies for over 1,500 children. Backpacks are then distributed at the annual Backpack Event at Pretend City Children’s Museum in Irvine on Monday, August 7, from 6:30pm-9:30pm. At the event, children also receive free haircuts, dinner, games and museum exhibits, courtesy of South County Outreach Volunteers.

“This is such a fun event for both our clients and volunteers,” said South County Outreach Development Manager Chrissy Vaughn. “Our corporate groups, like Orange County Real Estate Association and Finance America, have so much fun shopping for supplies and putting together backpacks for our clients. It’s a great team-builder for any organization.”

In addition to new backpacks for students ages 5-17, the following items are needed: pencils, pens, colored pencils, crayons, paper (both wide-ruled and college-ruled), spiral notebooks, scissors, erasers, rulers, folders, glue, composition books, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, binders, scientific calculators and mechanical pencils. The full list can be accessed on the nonprofit’s website www.sco-oc.org

“With the right school supplies, children can walk into school on the first day ready to learn.” said South County Outreach Executive Director Lara Fisher. “For the families, it is a great opportunity to give their children a confident start to the year. Many of us don’t realize that for a great deal of Orange County families, a backpack and a haircut are out-of-reach luxuries.”

Donations can be dropped off at the South County Outreach offices, 7 Whatney, Ste. B, in Irvine from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays through August 3rd. Additional delivery times can be arranged by calling 949-380-8144, ext. 220. All donations are tax deductible.

South County Outreach is still seeking hairstylists to give younger clients a fresh haircut at the Pretend City event on Monday, August 7,, 2017 in Irvine. Interested stylists can email Amy Swanson at aswanson@sco-oc.org.

ABOUT SOUTH COUNTY OUTREACH

For the past 26 years, South County Outreach has been providing hunger and homelessness prevention services to low-income individuals and families in crisis. South County Outreach helps the under-employed and the unemployed reach self-sufficiency by providing the following services: food pantry, rapid rehousing, utility and rental assistance, homelessness prevention counseling, computer training and clothing from our Upscale Resale thrift store.

AREAS SERVED

Based in Irvine, South County Outreach serves the communities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.