Imagine it’s your first day of school and you don’t have the supplies you need to do your best work.
The MPS Foundation is making sure that doesn’t happen to hundreds of kids in their school district.
Executive Director of MPS Foundation Wendell Willis says the “No Empty Backpacks” fundraiser is extending their deadline to help support more kids in need.
“Today we sit at about $14,000. Normally the end of the campaign would have been yesterday but we’re making the announcement that we’re extending our deadline to September 10th,” said Willis.
Each fully loaded backpack costs between $50-$70 and is handed out to kindergarten through 8th grade students at 16 schools in the MPS district.
Milwaukee non-profit Beyond Vision, which provides opportunities for sustainable employment for individuals with vision loss, helps put together the backpacks each year.
Product Line Champion at Beyond Vision Ericka Silas says it’s her 3rd year helping with the project.
“I know the Covid pandemic has affected a lot of families and so there are a lot of children who are in need of backpacks. This is an awesome thing for us to help out and put these backpacks together for the children,” said Silas.
Click HERE if you’d like to donate to the MPS Foundation backpack fundraiser.