The Stand
Operation Homefront announced its 2011 Back-to-School Brigade program to provide backpacks full of school supplies to local military kids in need. Donations can be made from July 8 through 25 at New York Dollar Tree and Deal$ stores or online at OperationHomefront.net.
The local effort is part of the fifth annual nationwide campaign by Operation Homefront to give the children of military families the opportunity to start school with all the supplies they need to be successful.
Items donated for the campaign will include spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebook paper, rulers, colored pencils, calculators and erasers.
This program saves military families a major education expense, especially for those experiencing financial hardships.
“Military families, especially those in the lower and mid-grade ranks, can see a real money crunch at back-to-school time,” said Alison La Ferlita, Operation Homefront NY/NJ Chapter President. “People in the community who want to say thank you to military families can make a real contribution by going to their local Dollar Tree or Deal$ store and chipping in for school supplies for the children of our men and women in uniform.”
In 2010 the Back-to-School Brigade program raised more than $2 million in school supplies nationwide through its partnership with Dollar Tree. Through the generosity of individual and corporate contributors, Operation Homefront provided 29,000 backpacks to fill with school supplies for children of military service members.
Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers across 25 chapters and met more than 167,000 needs in 2010. A four-star rated charity by watchdog Charity Navigator, nationally, 94 percent of total revenue donated to Operation Homefront goes to programs.
For more information about Operation Homefront, visit OperationHomefront.net.
