Support Educational Equity for Bay Area Children

Books have a powerful impact on children from an early age, expanding creativity, sparking a lifelong passion of knowledge and aiding in the study of STEM subjects. However, for the one in four children living in poverty in California, books are luxuries that cannot be afforded. With low-income students falling two grade levels behind their peers in reading skills by 3^rd grade, not having books comes at a greater cost to our community.

A third grade teacher shares, “ Most [students] don’t own books. They don’t have them at home. They use the small library but it makes a difference when they have ownership and they don’t have to return it. It’s theirs.”

Kicking off our Back-to-School Drive, Family Giving Tree’s Books for Backpacks campaign sparks the love of learning in low-income children by providing a new book in each elementary school backpack. Because of your generosity, you have helped distribute books to over 15,000 low-income elementary students! Thank you!

You can continue to spark the love of learning for low-income students on May 3^rd through SV Gives where every donation will provide a new book in an elementary school backpack.

Links:

• Books for Backpacks

Midway through the year, as students return to their classrooms after a long break, many are returning unprepared with the tools to learn. How can students fully participate in the classroom if not having school supplies is a constant threat to their education? Family Giving Tree understands that poverty is not seasonal.  Listening to the teachers and administrators, we discovered students run out of supplies within the first 6 months of the school year, with teachers attempting to fill the gap with what little supplies they have.

Knowing the needs of those in the community are present year-round, with your generous donations Family Giving Tree works with schools to restock classroom supplies through Teacher Boxes. These boxes filled with extra school supplies will give students the tools needed to participate in the classroom. As one parent from Dorsa, an elementary school we partner with, explained, “Donations are tools for success.” Thank you for your continued support in their future.