Sacred Heart Community Service still collecting backpacks
San José, CA. August 7, 2019. – Distribution Day for Sacred Heart Community Service’s annual Pack A Back Education Campaign is this Friday, August 9th. 3,300 students are signed up to receive new backpacks and school supplies at the organization located in San Jose, California.
Sacred Heart’s Pack A Back program is one way that families manage the high cost of living in Silicon Valley. According to the Huntington Bank’s 2019 Backpack Index, parents spend over $1,000 on school supplies and fees per child. These calculations take into account the costs that families must spend on technology so that their students can complete their assignments, a growing requirement in many schools. Through our program, families save an average of $400 that they can allocate towards crucial expenses, like the cost of rent.
Recent studies show that teachers in the US spend an average of $500 a year on school supplies for their classroom. At Sacred Heart, we value the teachers in our community and all the hard work they do to prepare the next generation of leaders. The week after Pack A Back, we will distribute kits to 500 teacher’s in surrounding schools; each kit will contain essential classroom items like glue sticks and post-its. Our goal is to help reduce these expenses for teachers in Silicon Valley, where wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of housing.
All backpack appointment slots for August 9th have been filled, but the agency is still collecting new backpacks and school supplies. In demand items include black/grey backpacks, USB drives, and child-safety scissors. Donations can be dropped off at Sacred Heart’s Donation Station located at 1381 S. First Street in San José, or people can donate online: https://donate.sacredheartcs.org/pab2019. The Donation Station is open 8am – 5pm today and tomorrow, and 8am – 4pm on Friday.
WHO: 3,300 Santa Clara County Students, grades K-12
WHAT: Distribution day for Pack A Back 2019 where students pick out new backpacks and school supplies
WHY: Sacred Heart Community Service’s annual Pack A Back program helps offset the cost of school supplies for families in our community where a bulk of their paycheck goes to rent.
WHEN:The Pack A Back Distribution Day will take place on Friday, August 9, from 8am- 5:30pm at Sacred
Heart Community Service. Staff will be on site and available for interviews starting at 4am.
WHERE: Sacred Heart Community Service, 1381 S. First Street, San José, CA 95110.