In Arizona, where one in five students lives in poverty, many children miss school because they lack clothes or supplies. That’s why each year, Legacy Connection and BHHS Legacy Foundation join with other community organizations to bring essential items to many of Arizona’s high-need children so they can start the school year ready to learn. Highlighted below are some of the partner agencies Legacy Connection and BHHS Legacy Foundation funding supports.
From Monday, July 18 through Thursday, July 21, at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Back-to-School Clothing Drive’s annual “New Clothes, New Beginnings” Distribution will provide new school clothes, shoes, school supplies, hygiene items, books, food, and a backpack to more than 10,000 elementary schoolchildren from low-income families. Providing these items, worth more than $400 per student, gets kids into the classroom and breaks down barriers to educational success.
The event traces its roots to 1967, when the Salt River flooded and washed out many of the migrant camps along the riverbank. A group of women supported by “The Order of True Sisters” and other Phoenix agencies banded together to raise money to supply back-to-school clothes for the children of the migrant families.
Almost 50 years later, Back-to-School Clothing Drive still strives to provide for students from Phoenix and its surrounding areas. Students who participate come from families living at or below the poverty level. So for many of these kids, these are the first new clothes and shoes they’ve ever owned.
You can help these kids start school with confidence—and help them pursue their dreams and contribute to our shared future—by making a donation to Legacy Connection. Plus, as an affiliate organization of BHHS Legacy Foundation, Legacy Connection contributions will be matched by the Foundation, which means even more children now living in poverty will receive the back-to-school items they need.
Click here to donate today. By making a gift, you’re not only transforming a child’s life, you’re strengthening Arizona’s future.
Backpack Buddies in the Tri-State Region
On July 19, at Mohave High School in Bullhead City, the Mohave Valley Clothe-a-Child Foundation will present the Tri-State Legacy Backpack Buddies “Dress Kids for Success” event for Bullhead City, Mohave Valley, and Topock elementary school students. The organization will hold a second event on August 9 for Laughlin, NV and Needles, CA elementary school students, as well as all area Head Start students.
Both events offer kids a new backpack filled with school and personal hygiene supplies, along with two new school uniform shirts, a pair of shoes, three pairs of socks, and three undergarments. All told, the events serve up to 3,000 kids.
Even though these are summer events, the Tri-State Legacy Backpack Buddies program provides support for underprivileged schoolchildren all year. The program offers uniforms and shirts to low-income junior high and high school students as well as sweatshirts to K-12 students in need.
About 250 volunteers work in 120-degree weather to make the summer events a success. But even more children could be helped with your support. Click here to learn how you can get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit while doubling the impact of your gift with a matching donation from BHHS Legacy Foundation.
Assistance League of Phoenix Delivering Dreams Bus
Throughout the month of August, the Assistance League of Phoenix will take its Operation School Bell Delivering Dreams Bus to Title I schools to deliver essential-need items to low-income children.
A mobile dressing center stocked with shoes, clothes, books, school supplies, and hygiene kits, the Delivering Dreams Bus is the only one of its kind out of 120 Assistance League chapters throughout the country. It travels across the Valley to schools with a high percentage of children living in poverty, outfitting thousands of students in need.
“We could not provide the program and services to as many children as we are reaching without the support of Legacy Foundation,” says Brenda Sperduti, Assistance League of Phoenix CEO. Sperduti recalls a sixth grader named Beverly who broke down crying after receiving new clothes and shoes earlier this year. When a volunteer asked her why, Beverly replied, “I’m just so happy to be here. I feel like a brand-new person.”
“That is what we do every day,” Sperduti says. “We transform the lives of children by showing them respect. But we also transform the hearts of our volunteers when they see this happening.”
Thanks to the partnership with BHHS Legacy Foundation, the Assistance League of Phoenix has been able to increase the number of children they serve. “We couldn’t do what we do without the partnership with Legacy, but even still, we’re reaching just a fraction of the children who need the help,” Sperduti says.
With gifts from donors like you, the Delivering Dreams Bus can support as many children as money will allow. Click here to make a donation today.