When students attending Cross Country Elementary/Middle School in Northwest Baltimore arrived to get a peek at their seats on Aug. 22, they got a surprise to kick start their school year.
Through the combined efforts of Jewish Volunteer Connection, the Macks Center for Jewish Connections and CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc., students in need at Cross Country received donations of backpacks filled with school supplies through the Build-A-Backpack volunteer program.
Abigail Malischostak, JVC’s director of partnerships, said that this year is the first time that JVC did this project. CHAI had informed JVC of students’ need for school supplies. The Build-A-Backpack program was an effective way to get donations packaged and ready before the school year started.
A goal of the project was to make it easy and enjoyable for community members to participate. Volunteers only needed to add a few extra items to their back-to-school shopping carts in order to be a part of the service project.
The simple format also made it easier for the project organizers to put together a donation drive.
“I shopped for supplies for a backpack myself … with my 4-year-old,” Malischostak said in an email. “She’s not yet in a school that has a school supply list, so it was fun and nostalgic for me to peruse the supplies and pick out things.”
While it may not seem like a big deal to shop for a couple of extra items, taking the time to buy and donate supplies is very helpful to the families receiving them.
“A lot of times school supplies are very expensive. And a lot of our parents are just trying to make ends meet, just trying to make sure that they have the bills paid, make sure they can get food on the table,” said Arnitra Smith, CHAI’s director of community and school engagement for Northwest Baltimore.
Smith said some parents felt that a huge burden had been taken off them by not having to worry about purchasing school supplies, especially because some are still feeling the economic impact of COVID-19, such as lost jobs and reduced hours.
While there is typically a backpack giveaway done by the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office at City Hall, it’s not always possible for families to make it out during the event and stand in lines that could last for hours.
In comparison, the Build-A-Backpack program is much more convenient for families, as it brings supplies to the people in need instead of them having to go out to get them.
In addition, the Build-A-Backpack program can act as a surprise that helps get kids excited to start school.
“We just want to be able to add a smile to the children’s faces. … It’s almost like receiving a birthday gift or maybe a Christmas gift or just getting a gift that you didn’t really ask for,” Smith said.
The Build-A-Backpack organizers hope that they’ll be able to expand the program for next year to encompass more schools and more students with a summer-long backpack donation drive.
According to Malischostak, more expansive projects like the larger backpack program will allow the JVC to incorporate more Jewish community building and service into their activities.
“I would hope that a future iteration of this program would get people engaging with each other and those ideas [of service] so that they can feel really connected and be fulfilling that need in our community,” Malischostak said.
