NYC's Operation Backpack® Is a Record-Breaking Success

(New York, NY) – The numbers are in! Volunteers of America-Greater New York (VOA-GNY) announced today that 20,000 children who live in New York City shelters went back to school this year with backpacks brimming with every imaginable school supply thanks to the efforts of record numbers of volunteers and corporate partners who took part in its 15th annual Operation Backpack® initiative.

A community service of VOA-GNY, Operation Backpack® ensures that every child living in a New York City homeless or domestic violence shelter who needs one, gets a new, top-quality backpack filled with supplies that help them start school more confident and prepared. This year, VOA-GNY was proud to have expanded the program to include shelters that provide housing to runaway youth.

Throughout the summer, everyday New Yorkers and a record-breaking 2,000 volunteers and 332 corporate partners contributed to the success of the program by donating money, advertising space, backpacks, school supplies, and thousands of hours of hands-on work stuffing backpacks in a cavernous warehouse space generously provided by RXR Realty. Among this year’s first-time partners were the New York City Police Department’s Transit Bureau, which sent 40 officers to the warehouse to fill and quality-control backpacks and help children from one of VOA-GNY’s family shelters pick out their school supplies.

The average cost to fill a backpack is $87 – an expense very few homeless families can afford. The school supplies provided by Operation Backpack® include all the basics plus grade-specific items like watercolor paints, crayons, erasers, glue sticks, and pencils for the younger children, and, for the older students, USB flash drives, geometry sets, scientific calculators, dictionaries, and weekly planners.

Operation Backpack® is 100% dependent on support from the public.

This year, generous New Yorkers donated 9,000 filled backpacks to the campaign. Financial donations helped VOA-GNY purchase supplies necessary to fill empty backpacks provided by another very generous partner. Official sponsors included Walgreens/Duane Reade, RXR Realty, PITCH, the New York City Department of Education, PromaxBDA, HarperCollins Publishers, The Weeks Lerman Group, and FedEx.

Corporations were also invited to “adopt” a product by covering the cost for a significant portion or entire need of a specific school supply. Among the participants were 21st Century Fox; Alex Rembac/Sterling Engagements; American Prison Data Systems; Bank of NY Mellon; Cushman & Wakefield's Women's Integrated Network; HarperCollins Publishers; Malachite Capital Management; NFP; PromaxBDA; Sol & Margaret Berger Foundation; Staedtler; Sydney Paige; and Walgreens/Duane Reade.

“Education is key to breaking the vicious cycle of homelessness, poverty and unemployment,” said Tere Pettitt, President & CEO of Volunteers of America-Greater New York. “The majority of families who are living in shelters cannot afford the most basic school supplies, and this is where VOA-GNY steps in. Over the years, we have helped more than 180,000 homeless students prepare for the start of the school year, giving them more confidence, more hope and materials they need to be successful. None of this would be possible without the generosity, dedication, and support from all those who donated and to our corporate sponsors and volunteers.”

Rachel Weinstein, VOA-GNY’s Vice President of Communications and External Relations, and the founder of Operation Backpack®, added a note of thanks. She said, “This year, with help from everyday New Yorkers, 20,000 vulnerable children walked into school with their heads held high. This program is a labor of love and it could not happen without the contributions of each and every donor, sponsor, and volunteer. On behalf of these children, thank you for investing in their future.”

VOA-GNY is seeking lead corporate sponsors for next year’s initiative. For more information, please contact Rachel Weinstein at rweinstein@voa-gny.org or 212-496-4305.

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Volunteers of America (VOA) has been at the forefront of social service since 1896, helping individuals and families in need overcome obstacles to living safe, healthy and productive lives. Locally, VOA is one of the largest providers of permanent, supportive housing in the nation. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children in need benefit from Volunteers of America-Greater New York’s life-changing, often life-saving work, including the homeless and those at risk of homelessness, families affected by domestic violence, children with disabilities, individuals living with HIV/AIDS, veterans struggling to reintegrate, and older adults. It is the largest provider of supportive housing for veterans in New York.