LAFCU helps 310 students start school ready at fifth annual Back-to-School Extravaganza

LAFCU helped 310 Lansing-area students head back to the classroom with backpacks, school supplies and personal care essentials through its fifth annual Back-to-School Extravaganza, an initiative designed to help ease the financial pressures families can face at the start of a new school year.

Held in partnership with The Village Lansing and Two Men and a Truck, the event provided each student with a backpack filled with supplies and hygiene items. LAFCU members and community residents also helped make the giveaway possible by donating school supplies and personal care products at LAFCU branches leading up to the event.

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For LAFCU, the annual Extravaganza is about more than providing supplies. It reflects the credit union's people-helping-people mission by addressing an immediate financial need while helping children begin the school year feeling prepared, confident and supported.

"The beginning of a school year should be filled with excitement and possibility, not worry about whether a family can afford everything a child needs," said Shelia Scott, LAFCU's community financial education and business development officer. "By bringing our members, community partners and neighbors together, we can help relieve some of that burden for families and give students something even more important than a backpack — the confidence to walk into school ready to learn and succeed."

LAFCU extended that commitment by also supporting the 2026 Dr. Joan Jackson Johnson Backpack Giveaway Event, another community effort that provided backpacks and school supplies to area students. LAFCU's involvement in both initiatives reflects its broader focus on helping families meet immediate needs while creating opportunities that can strengthen financial well-being and communities over time.