2023-2024 Back-to-School
Backpack & School Supply Drive
Dear Friend,
As this current school year ends and summer begins, we are already looking forward to the upcoming school year and making sure the young students in our Food Pantry community can start the year on an equal footing with their classmates.
Our Friends In Deed families continue to face many financial challenges including rising prices and supply shortages. Economic instability is still a major hurdle for our families, and this makes it even more difficult to prepare for big events like the start of a new school year. This is why we consider our annual “Back-to-School” event one of our more important events of the year.
Each year we come to you, our Friends In Deed community, to help us make the Back-to-School Backpack & School Supply Drive a success. Last year, we happily distributed over 360 backpacks filled with school supplies to school-aged children representing over 60 schools in Pasadena and the neighboring communities. Based on the number of households we are seeing weekly in the Food Pantry this year, we expect numbers closer to 400. On two consecutive Saturdays, July 29 and August 5, we will be distributing backpacks and school supplies to families in our community.
Your participation is more important than ever. Your help and support are imperative to the success of this special event. We cannot do it without you. We hope that you will join us in this effort!
We ask you to help us by dropping off donations to the Friends In Deed House located at 444 E. Washington Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91104 (on the SE corner of Washington Boulevard and Los Robles Avenue). Donations will be accepted starting Saturday, July 1. Please plan to bring donations on one of the following days:
- Thursday – July 6, 13, and 20, between 1:30 - 4:30pm
- Friday – July 7, 14, and 21, between 9:00am - 3:00pm
- Saturday – July 1, 8, and 15, between 9:00am - 3:00pm
If you are unable to bring the donations on one of the above days, please email Tim Nistler ([email protected]) or Eva Rivera ([email protected]), or call 626-797-6072 to arrange a drop-off outside those specific dates and times.
We have also set up an Amazon “FID School Supply Drive Wish List” if you prefer to order online and have purchases sent directly to Friends In Deed: click here or copy/paste this link into your browser: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DGFRX5F9MXJW
If you would like to support this event, here are some things to consider:
- Please avoid all red and all blue backpacks. This is very important to our schools.
- Backpacks should be sturdy enough to handle the rigors of a student's day and the tremendous supply of books students heft around, especially high school students.
- The school supplies needed are recommended by the Pasadena/Altadena area schools and the list is included below.
- Empty backpacks and school supplies must be delivered to Friends In Deed by Friday, July 21, 2023 at the latest, in order to be included in the distribution.
If you have any questions, please contact our Food Pantry team. Thank you for helping us ensure that the students in our community have a great start to the upcoming school year.
In service and with gratitude,
