By Karla Bean & Emmanuelle Jarmon | Project Leaders
Greetings!
School is back in full swing! This fall, thanks to our generous donors and supporters, we were able to donate more than 100 backpacks, notebooks, folders, crayons, markers, glue sticks, rulers, pens, pencils, scissors and erasers to children living in our communities. We partnered with Portland Homeless Family Solutions and the Vancouver Salvation Army Back to School event. These programs benefit children who are either homeless or live in low-income households.
Last year, there were 48,459 children enrolled in the Portland School District with 45.7% elegible for free or reduced-priced meals. In the Vancouver Public School District, there were 23,399 students enrolled with 51.6% eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. The child poverty rate (children 0-17) in Multnomah county is 23%. The poverty rate in the Vancouver Public school district is more than 50%. A family of four with annual income of $24,250 or less is considered at poverty level.
Many families continue to struggle on a daily basis. There is still much to be done. But every little bit helps. Thank you for making a difference, thank you for caring.
With gratitude,
The Global Backpack Project team
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
