The first day of school should be exciting and set a positive tone for the year to come. But without a backpack or basic school supplies, some students begin the year already feeling a step behind before they even walk into the classroom.
Pacific Clinics’ community of supporters and donors recently partnered with volunteers to assemble and deliver 1,000 fully stocked backpacks throughout Santa Clara County and 200 more to children and teenagers in our Capital Region.
Our unified mission is simple: eliminate barriers to education and provide local families with the foundational support needed for a thriving academic year.
Missing core school supplies places an invisible burden on students, making it incredibly difficult to keep up with daily coursework and homework. Our annual initiative bridges this gap. By tailoring the supplies inside each backpack to specific age groups, we ensure every recipient walks into their classroom on day one feeling prepared, confident and ready to learn.
Pacific Clinics’ clinical teams delivered the backpacks directly to local families. The supplies reached youth across more than 20 regional programs, including:
- Foster Care and Adoptions
- Addiction Prevention Services
- School-Based Outpatient Program
- Crisis Intervention
- Flexible Integrated Treatment and many others.
“Walking into a classroom lacking basic school supplies or a backpack immediately sets a child back,” explains Bay Area Senior Director of Development Darren DeMonsi. “When our community steps up to fill these bags, we are delivering more than just notebooks and pencils. We are sending a clear message to these students that they matter and that their community believes in their potential.”
In the Bay Area Region, this achievement was made possible through the profound generosity of Happy Dragon Thrift Shop, Foothills Church, Rotary Club of Los Gatos, Intero Foundation of Morgan Hill, Butter Paddle Gift Shop (EMQ Auxiliary), Unicorn Thrift Shop and our Community Leadership Board, and in the Capital Region, Ticket to Dream. Additionally, we could not have achieved our goal without the hands-on dedication of volunteers from GHJ Advisors, History Club of Los Gatos, the Rotary Club of Los Gatos, the EMQ Auxiliary and our Community Leadership Board.
Time and again, families tell us these backpacks make a meaningful difference. Parents frequently share that these backpacks do more than ease financial stress — they give their children a genuine sense of belonging and excitement for the school year ahead.
