Packing Hope: Inside the race to fill 36,000 backpacks
Powered by volunteers, an assembly line at a Lake Worth Beach warehouse equips Palm Beach County children with tools for the first day of school
INSIDE THE CROWDED Lake Worth Beach warehouse, it feels less like a charity drive and more like a locker room before kickoff.
James Gavrilos, pacing the floor in shorts and a T-shirt, is rallying his latest team of volunteers to help tackle a mountain of 36,000 empty backpacks by the end of July.
“For the next couple of hours you are going to be changing the world, one student at a time,’’ he says, his voice booming across the packing room at the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County on Barton Road.
It’s July 20, about two weeks into the foundation’s eighth annual Backpack Initiative to put basic school supplies into the hands of needy Palm Beach County students in time for the first day of school.
There are still some 19,000 empty bags waiting to be filled, and school starts Aug. 10.
With a goal of topping last year’s total by nearly 6,000 bags, it’s a daunting task. If all 36,000 future backpack recipients stood together, they would fill loanDepot, home of the Miami Marlins baseball team.
Gavrilos, the foundation’s president and CEO, isn’t worried.
“Never ever doubt the power of a volunteer,’’ he calls out, priming the 50 helpers with praise.
He reminds them that they aren’t just stuffing nylon backpacks with notebooks, pencils and other basic learning tools. They are delivering hope, confidence, and equity to students at 55 Title I elementary and middle schools in Palm Beach County, where nearly 40,000 children live below the poverty level.
“You’re going to be packing backpacks for a kid, and you’re going to change that kid’s life,’’ he says.
A rotating army of volunteers has been at it nearly every day this month, working two-hour shifts inside Red Apple Supplies, the foundation’s free resource store serving teachers from the district’s highest-need schools.
They come from a cross-section of the community: senior citizens and teens, country club residents and Rotarians, ordinary folks and elected officials.
Teams line up from places like St. Mary’s Medical Center, the Jones Foster law firm, CORE Construction, Brooklyn Water Bagel, Florida Power & Light, Pratt & Whitney and The Breakers hotel.
“During backpack season, it’s all hands on deck,’’ Gavrilos says.
They proceed one-by-one along a row of bins, grabbing a flat empty backpack from the first and filling it with No. 2 pencils, markers, crayons, erasers, sharpeners, notebooks, rulers, scissors, glue sticks and more.
Many volunteers stuff something extra into the front pocket, a personal note of encouragement: “I can do my best today!” or “Keep reading, ask questions!”
As the human conveyor belt gets ready to move, Gavrilos shouts out reminders of why the volunteers are sweating in this brightly-lit packing room.
Florida ranks 46th in the nation in per-student spending. Two-thirds of the 182 schools in Palm Beach County, the nation’s 10th largest school district, receive federal funding to support low-income students. Because of systemic shortfalls, the average local teacher spent $616 out of their own pocket buying supplies last year.
“No teacher in Palm Beach County should have to dip into their own pocket to buy school supplies,” he tells the crowd. “Palm Beach, we are better than this.’’
He shares a story that inspired Red Apple Supplies.
“We had a teacher from Diamond View Elementary (in Lantana), about 10 minutes from where you are standing, who called us up. Her star pupil missed two assignments in a row. She asked him, ‘You’ve never missed an assignment in your life. What’s up?’”
Gavrilos pauses, letting the room go quiet.
“The kid said, ‘It wasn’t my night for the pencil.’ Let that sink in. The child has four siblings. They each get the pencil one night a week to do their lessons. That’s why Red Apple Supplies was born.’’
Over the past decade, Red Apple has distributed more than $9.2 million in free school supplies to local classrooms. It supported just four schools that first year, 2016; today, it serves 105.
But a few years after the store opened, the foundation recognized an opportunity to give needy students a boost before they even walk through the schoolhouse doors.
“That’s really what the Backpack Initiative is about — making sure students can start the year on equal footing, with a brand-new backpack filled with the essential supplies they need to feel prepared, confident and excited to learn,’’ said Teresa West, the foundation’s Chief Engagement Officer.
The backpack initiative launched in 2019 with 3,965 bags. By 2022, it jumped to 16,817. Last year, it crossed 30,543.
The growth is entirely powered by community hands.
“These kids are our future,’’ volunteer Sue Brenner said as she stuffed backpacks with pencil pouches alongside her fellow “Wycliffe Warriors,” a charity group from the Wycliffe Country Club.
“If we don’t get these kids right,’’ she said without finishing the sentence. “We live a good life at Wycliffe, but we are not unaware of the world. This is what we do to say thank you.’’
Behind her, other volunteers load the finished backpacks into cardboard boxes on pallets that will be forklifted to a warehouse next door. They’re delivered to schools, where students will receive them on Meet Your Teacher Day the first week in August.
By the end of the shift on this July day, another thousand backpacks were filled.
By the end of Friday, July 24, the tally stood at 30,500.
With just four packing days to go, the summit of 36,000 is in sight.
“As you are working today, I want you to think about that child that’s going to get that backpack,’’ Gavrilos said.
“I want you to think about being 10 years old and walking into school for the first day, and everybody’s got a backpack and all the nice school supplies except you.
“What will that do to your sense of self? What will that do to your sense of dignity? Ladies and gentlemen, what you are doing today is packing hope. You are giving this next generation the belief that someone believed in them.’’
"It wasn't my night to use the pencil". My heart sinks at the thought. My heart sings in praise for the Education Foundation and all the incredible volunteers! Thanks for this story Joe.
This is a great story Joe!