Last year was the first year Long Beach Rescue Mission partnered with Long Beach Unified School District, Kingdom Causes, Academic Uprise and Mary Louise Burgess to raise awareness, funds, and supplies for their backpack drive. The inspiration was simply seeing and hearing about the need and realizing that families may not be able to provide these standard necessities for school.
The backpacks are distributed among ten LBUSD middle schools, chosen by the school board administration according to need. At each school, the school administrators decide which individual students receive the backpacks.
The ten schools are Butler, DeMille, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lindbergh, Marshall, Powell, Stephens, and Washington. Last year, more than 2,000 students received backpacks. This year’s goal is 3,200.
According to the Long Beach Rescue Mission, providing a backpack and school supplies may seem very simple, but it really does make a big difference for the potential success of a student. Starting off the school year with the necessary supplies will help students have a successful, productive year in the classroom.
People can contribute in three ways- donate money, donate any combination of supplies/backpacks, or donate their time. Monetary donations can be sent to:
Long Beach
Rescue Mission
PO Box 1969
Long Beach, CA
90801-1969
Supply and backpack donations can be brought to the mission, 1335 Pacific Avenue, any day between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Contact Jenn Gold for more information at volunteer@lbrm.org, or call (562) 216-7610. A list of needed supplies is also available at www.lbrm.org.
