Kids to Love volunteers pack thousands of backpacks for annual foster care drive

MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) — Foster kids across Alabama will receive between four and six thousand backpacks filled with school supplies this summer.

Madison-based nonprofit Kids to Love has been putting on their More Than a Backpack drive for over 15 years, setting students from kindergarten through college up for success this school year.

When foster kids are moved from home to home, many don’t have a way to carry their clothes or personal belongings. Operations Director Tasha Jones explained children often have to use trash bags to hold their things.

“Sometimes they come into care with absolutely nothing and that’s a majority of the time,” Jones said.

Every backpack includes basic supplies like pencils, pens, and notebooks, plus tools like calculators and rulers based on the age of the child.

Volunteer Alex Phillips said she’s decided to help out this year to make sure foster children have what they need like her own children.

“I have two kids at home that I know have all the school supplies to go back to school, so I think it’s great to do that for others,” Phillips said.

The drive is made possible thanks to community partnerships and local donations. While demand is highest around the start of the school year, Kids to Love says they need the supplies year-round.

“If a foster parent calls us and says they have a twelve-year-old and they don’t have school supplies, we’ll go to these boxes and pull what they need,” Jones said. “So it’s not just a service for right before school, these are things we need continuously throughout the year.”

Once organized, the backpacks will be distributed across Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. If you want to donate supplies, there are collection boxes at every branch of CB&S Bank. The deadline is July 29.

For more information on donation and volunteer opportunities at Kids to Love, visit here .

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