The Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County, with the support of GL Homes, recently kicked off its Back-To-School Drive with donation drop-off locations and an online virtual drive. Donated backpacks stuffed with school supplies will ensure that thousands of club members are ready for a successful 2021-22 school year.
GL Homes is the title sponsor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County’s Back-To-School Drive. Their support puts the campaign on track to help more than 2,000 children and teens across the county. These club members, significantly impacted by the pandemic, need to start the new school year fully equipped to overcome the achievement gap caused by distant learning connectivity issues and the lack of devices inside individual households.
“We are proud to partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County for this important goal of giving the most deserving children the school supplies that they need to achieve,” GL Homes Director of Community Relations Sarah Alsofrom said. “It’s important for GL Homes to do our part to help the community fully recover.”
Continuing to assist Palm Beach County families who live in poverty is critical this year after challenges caused by the pandemic resulted in a historic achievement gap. A national study done by leading universities found students are behind in key educational benchmarks by as much as 33 percent. The efforts to help disadvantaged students overcome these challenges make the success of the back-to-school drive even more important this year.
“We’re starting the Back-To-School Drive while the current school year is still in session because of the shortened summer break and enormous challenge that we face to ensure that all club members have a backpack full of school supplies in August,” Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County President & CEO Jaene Miranda said. “Without these supplies, our members most negatively impacted by the pandemic will continue to be unfairly disadvantaged. I am grateful for GL Homes’ support because, without community partners, we would not be able to meet our mission of enabling all young people to reach their full potential.”
The GL Homes and Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County Back-To-School Drive started May 24 and will run through July 23. Drop-off locations for backpacks and school supplies are scattered throughout Palm Beach County at participating businesses. Items can be purchased online and automatically sent to the clubs at www.bgcpbc.org/backtoschooldrive. At the same link, you will find a list of drop-off locations open to the public and the most needed school supplies. Backpacks stuffed with school supplies will be given to club members a week before school starts on Aug. 10.
