Support STEM Education for 1000 Bay Area Children

As of today, through the 2018 Back-to-School Drive, you have provided 37,000+ students from low-income families with the tools they need to complete assignments and homework and help them to feel confident in the classroom. We wanted to pass along their thanks to you. 

While you may not experience the results firsthand, the impact of your generosity creates a lasting imprint not only on each child and their family but also on the future of our community as a whole. When generations of students are prepared to learn and find joy in their education, the community benefits from their talents and skills. It's not an immediate outcome but it is worth the wait.

Have you ever had that nightmare of showing up to a meeting or an exam completely unprepared? You feel the panic of underperforming. The fear of looming failure. Finally, you wake up in a cold sweat; relieved to find that it was only a dream.

For students from low-income families, this dream is oftentimes their reality. Many of these families are already forced to make the impossible choice between paying rent and putting food on the table. Essential school supplies become luxury items that are simply unaffordable. By providing a backpack filled with grade-appropriate school supplies, you are giving students the joy and comfort that comes from being able to walk into class prepared to learn and succeed.

A teacher at a partner school in the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto describes this feeling of relief:

The support that the families get from the backpacks with supplies has been invaluable. Our families struggle to make it in the Bay Area with many of them living multiple families in living spaces that were not designed for multiple families. Without the Family Giving Tree, our families and students would not be as prepared for school.

As Family Giving Tree strives to provide 37,000 in-need Bay Area students with the tools they need to succeed, your support is critical!  With over 225 partner schools, your gift provides these deserving students with the tools necessary for success.

School hasn’t ended yet but Family Giving Tree is already planning for summer. This year our goal is to prepare 37,000 local low-income students to head back to school ready to learn. Quality education and the tools to participate in the classroom are harder for students living in poverty to access. School supplies are the cornerstone for a solid education foundation. Family Giving Tree works directly with teachers to ensure that all the supplies are what is needed for each grade level and aid in STEM learning.

No one achieves anything alone. To equip 37,000 students with needed school supplies, we need your help. It takes a community of people working together to make a difference. Don’t just donate. Donate and then share with friends and family. Consider setting up a fundraiser for your birthday or your anniversary or just because. When you get more people involved, you have the ability to help more students in need.

As the New Year approaches and resolutions are made, consider making yours to support a child’s education. Family Giving Tree believes that all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, deserve the opportunity to thrive in the classroom.

Backpacks filled with grade appropriate school supplies that support STEM-related learning are essential to students. However, those students living below the poverty line live in families that must choose between paying rent and buying food. This leaves these necessary school supplies behind, along with their learning potential.

Your support provides these students with more than just a backpack. It provides them opportunities and possibilities. 

School is back in session and, thanks to you, over 40,000 low-income students walked into the first day of school prepared to learn. When students have the appropriate school supplies to complete homework and participate in class, their confidence soars. They believe they can succeed.

A teacher at Andrew Hill High School expresses their students’ gratitude,

“Please know all of you… are making such an important difference! With the generous backpacks and school supplies you have provided, not only will our students be better prepared for classes, but even more important, they will know that many people in our community cared for them –enough to take that extra step.”

It has been said, that you must risk failure in order to achieve great success. However, not having schools supplies that aide in the preparation for the future is too great a risk that often reaps no success. Your contributions have changed that for so many students. Thank you!