Back To School Backpack Giveaway

Venita is a senior in the Tenderloin who is raising her 6 year old grandson, who this year will start first grade. Tran, another Tenderloin resident and single parent, is helping his 9 year old son get ready for the new school year as well. While back-to-school time is exciting for both families, it is also a time when the added expenses of school clothes and supplies can create an added economic strain. A list of school supplies expected from students and parents including binder paper, notebooks, book covers and pencils, in addition to classroom supplies such as tissue paper, copy paper and Band-Aids, often come from the teacher weeks before school begins. Not having a second income to rely on in a tumbling economy, or enough from a primary income to cover basic necessities, the free backpacks offered to neighborhood children by St. Anthony Foundation come right on time. According to the last census (2000), single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18; it is anticipated that number will increase in the 2010 census.

With one of the citys highest concentrations of children and some of the lowest income levels, Tenderloin children have many challenges to accessing basic needs such as education, healthy food, and school supplies. To help students and parents work together on building a successful school year, St. Anthony Foundation handed out free backpacks filled with dictionaries, notebooks, and school supplies to neighborhood children in St. Anthonys Green Services Building located at 150 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on August 27, 2009. Single parent families were on site to share their stories of single parenting in the Tenderloin, and how critical social services support is for filling in the gaps for their children.

The backpacks ranged in colors, sizes, and shapes, as did the students who received them. The backpacks were donated by groups or individuals through Family Giving Tree and Raft, and were filled with school supplies.