We have a visual guide that illustrates the Journey of a Backpack - this gives you a high-level view of how wishes are fulfilled from beginning to end.

 

To provide a brief summary of how we operate: we vet and approve Bay Area non-profit agencies and schools with a high number of students who qualify for the Free and Reduced-Price Meal program and sign them up to receive a designated number of backpacks. We print backpack tags with school supplies listed designed for grades K-1, 2-5, and 6-12 and distribute them to companies and groups (i.e. Drive Leaders) so their members can purchase the backpacks and supplies and deliver the backpacks to us. We also enable online giving through our customizable Virtual Giving Tree donation pages to provide a completely contactless option of giving. These purchased and donated backpacks are then distributed to the agencies and schools who then distribute them to the students who qualify to receive one.

The timeline for the Back-to-School Drive is as follows:

• April 5: Drive Leader Registration Open
• May 1: Virtual Giving Trees (VGTs) Go Live (you can start running your online drive at this point if you sign up for one)
• May 31: Priority Volunteer Registration for Drive Leaders Opens (this is optional if you'd like to volunteer in the warehouse—we will be following protocols to ensure the health and safety of all volunteers and staff)
• June 2: Back-to-School Drive Material Mailings Begin 
• June 7: Public volunteer Registration Opens (this is when all of the warehouse volunteer opportunities will fill up quickly)
• July 25: Donation Drop-Offs Begin (All backpacks and supplies are due to the warehouse by July 27th)
• September 8:  VGTs close

This year, due to COVID, all Drive materials will be mailed (except collection boxes). We will have donation drop-off options in the South Bay (our main warehouse), North Bay, East Bay, and Peninsula.

When you register for a Drive, you will be able to specify how many backpack tags you would like to receive and make a request for marketing collateral such as posters to display (limited quantities will be available but we will have resources online for you as well).

 

If you have further questions or require more information check out the other menu items in the Back-to-School section - they are updated frequently in June and July. If you still need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to driveleaders@fgt.org. We are more than happy to help support you throughout the Drive to ensure a positive experience.