2021 Back to School Support Week Sees Huge Success

By Brianna Funk, Volunteer and Special Events Coordinator

The Foster Alliance (TFA) is dedicated to helping children in foster care by providing the necessities they need to thrive and be successful throughout the school year. By offering the supplies needed to attend school, children in foster care can focus on their education. Through the Back to School Program, backpacks are distributed during the school year, as needed, as well as during Back to School Support Week, which was held June 21st – June 25th. Lack of access to necessary school supplies can have a direct negative impact on a child’s educational experience and families depend on the vital educational resources offered by TFA to assist these children in reaching their educational goals.

This year, we reimagined the entire event. As a team, we really had to think creatively about how to distribute backpacks and other essential items to children in foster care and their families. We did a lot of brainstorming and decided to turn the traditional support day into a weeklong event, utilizing the newly accessible west side of the warehouse. We included excess items in our inventory, allowing us to provide more support than ever before.

“I was blown away by the amount of support your agency provided us. I signed up for back to school supplies for my twin foster nieces and was surprised to see all of the donations your organization had available for them. The volunteer was amazing in helping us navigate through the item collecting process. Our entire family is very appreciative of the work you provide foster families.” – Jami, Kinship Provider

We served 888 children in foster care, preparing them to return to school, feeling confident and excited to show off their new backpacks. Back to School Support Week was made possible thanks to our volunteers and corporate and community partners. We are also sincerely grateful to the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation for their generous underwriting of the Back to School Program.