Kids In Need Foundation Announces 2014 School Ready Supplies Program

The program is especially designed for community back-to-school giveaway events

DAYTON, Ohio--()--The Kids In Need Foundation, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing free school supplies to economically disadvantaged school children and under-funded teachers, announces the 2014 launch of the School Ready Supplies program. The program provides backpacks filled with age appropriate school supplies to groups and organizations across the U.S. that will be conducting school supply giveaways at back-to-school events in their local communities.

“The School Ready Supplies program helps to support efforts by schools, social service agencies, and other organizations in local communities that provide free school supplies to children in need,” said Dave Smith, executive director of the Kids In Need Foundation. “More and more communities are recognizing the importance of getting school supplies to students whose families cannot afford to purchase them so those students can participate on a level playing field with other students. Principals and teachers tell us that many kids who don’t have supplies stay home the first couple of weeks of school because they can’t join their classmates in showing off their new supplies. They’re behind when they go, and they can’t recover because they still don’t have the school supplies they need to do their work.”

The School Ready Supplies program can provide backpacks and supplies for events that are sponsored by community businesses, organizations, and individuals. The backpacks can be prepared for either elementary or middle/high school students and contain approximately 20 items, including the basics – pencils, pens, paper, crayons (elementary), markers, and glue – as well as extras like folders, scissors, erasers, highlighters, and more. The backpacks are then delivered on the date and to the location requested.

“Organizations conducting local school supply giveaway programs have found that utilizing the School Ready Supplies program is much more economical and user friendly than gathering the supplies and preparing the backpacks themselves,” said Smith.

In addition, large corporations and other businesses of any size have found that organizing a school supplies giveaway can be an excellent way of engaging employees.

“Companies order the backpacks and bulk school supplies from the Kids In Need Foundation, and employees prepare the backpacks as a meaningful exercise in corporate social responsibility,” said Smith. “So a backpack building event is a great team building event as well.”

Beginning today, inquiries about the program from groups, organizations, or corporations are being answered with specific information applicable to the individual events. Inquiries should be directed to Darren Haper at 937-296-1230, ext. 312, or darrenh@kinf.org.

About the Kids In Need Foundation

The Kids In Need Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1995. The Foundation’s mission is to prepare children to learn and succeed by providing free school supplies to students most in need. Its National Network of Resource Centers includes 32 facilities where teachers from low-income schools go to obtain free school supplies for their students. School supply giveaways in communities not served by Resource Centers are accommodated through the School Ready Supplies program, and students who have gone through natural disasters are helped to get back to their normal routines with new backpacks and supplies through the Second Responder® program. In addition, two Teacher Grant programs award preK-12 educators with funding to provide innovative learning experiences for students. The Kids In Need Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in school supplies since its founding, directly benefiting more than 3.6 million students and 120,000 teachers annually, and has awarded $1.5 million in grants to teachers. Kids In Need has earned the Gold GuideStar Exchange Seal, demonstrating its commitment to transparency, and has consistently received high ratings from Charity Navigator, indicating that it operates in a fiscally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America. For more information, visit www.kinf.org. Join Kids In Need Foundation on Twitter at twitter.com/kidsinneed and Facebook at facebook.com/kidsinneed.

Contacts

Kids In Need Foundation
Penny Hawk, 937-296-1230, ext. 303
pennyh@kinf.org

Release Summary

Kids In Need Foundation Announces 2014 School Ready Supplies Program; The program is especially designed for community back-to-school giveaway events.

Contacts

Kids In Need Foundation
Penny Hawk, 937-296-1230, ext. 303
pennyh@kinf.org