Kaiser Permanente Back To School Backpack Drive Helps Students

“We are seeing all the kids excited to get their backpacks, we’re cheering them on for a new school year, and putting a smile on their faces. I am sure these backpacks are going to serve them for this whole year and help them have that self-esteem to go through with their school year.”

Those sentiments from Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento nurse Kseniya Donchenko, RN, BSN, were echoed throughout the day as nearly 1,500 backpacks full of school supplies were distributed, including at a special event at the Mack Road Valley Hi Community Center Saturday.

South Sacramento physicians and staff donated the backpacks and supplies to help area children prepare for the upcoming school year. The backpacks contained pencils, crayons, notebooks, scissors, washable markers, and glue sticks for elementary school children, and pens, notebooks, pocket folders, mechanical pencils, highlighters, and index cards for middle and high school students. Each backpack also included a water bottle, hand sanitizer, and a health booklet.

“For the last two and half years, we have been dealing with a health care crisis the likes which we have never seen. The fact that these employees are here giving their time and energy to try to help this community is really important,” said Fred Thomas, Area Information Officer, Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento. “It is so important that we are here with our partners all trying to create a situation that will help youngsters in the community. There is a long-term impact.”

The backpack distribution event was held in partnership with Mack Road Partnership/Reimagine Mack Road, Sacramento Children’s Home, Valley Hi Family Resource Center and the Sacramento Police Department.

“The cost of living has increased dramatically this year, as we all know, so something like having access to backpacks that are full of school supplies really makes a difference in a household,” said Marilyn Mann, Director of Community Partnerships, Mack Road Partnership/ ReImagine Mack Road Foundation. “The importance of community partnership is that we cannot do this by ourselves. When you bring together organizations with different skill sets, different access to resources, from volunteers to supplies, we are able to fill in all the gaps and create a quilt of organizations and people who really care about community.”

Lt. Brian Kinney from the Sacramento Police Department, agreed.

“Being able to go to school with new materials gives the children a sense of pride and they feel like they can successful. We love coming to events like this and being able to interact with everyone. We fully recognize that we cannot do our job as a police department without the support of our community, so events like this help us to build those relationships,” said Kinney.

Mann added, “Being able to take their pressure off families, is a gift that we are happy to give collectively as partners in this event and I hope we can continue to do this and support families and the kids, who are going to walk in on the first day of school, confident that they have the things they need and that’s what we want … to set the tone for success.”

This is the fourth year Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento has partnered on a backpack distribution event.