Low-income students served by nonprofits in Sunnyvale and Cupertino went back to school last month with the supplies they needed, thanks to distribution events in both communities.
Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) held its “Ready to Learn” event for 1,300 school-age children on Aug. 4, while Cupertino-based West Valley Community Services’ Back to School Program provided backpacks full of school supplies and new clothes to K-12 students on Aug. 5.
SCS held its all-day drive-through event at its facility at 1160 Kern Ave., where staff and volunteers handed out boxes of age-appropriate school supplies along with Target gift cards for families to use to purchase more essentials.
“The delight on the faces of the young students and their families as they look ahead to school days prepared for success is always satisfying and heartwarming to see,” SCS Executive Director Marie Bernard said in a statement.
As of Sept. 8, SCS had given out 2,201 school supply kits and gift cards to local Sunnyvale children through this year’s “Ready to Learn” program and expected to serve 2,500 students before distribution was complete. Last year’s program served 2,160 enrolled Sunnyvale children.
For WVCS’s Back to School Program, children were paired with an adult volunteer chaperone to assist them with choosing school clothes at Old Navy at Westgate Mall. Each child also received a backpack.
