DETROIT (WWJ) - With school right around the corner, Michigan's largest private foster care and adoption agency is collecting backpacks and school supplies in its fourth annual backpack drive.
Spokesperson Cheryl Kohs said the drive will ensure every child in a Samaritas program starts the school year feeling confident and prepared.
"We are collecting backpacks and school supplies for all the kids in our care, including foster care, the kids who live in our family homeless shelters, the children in our family preservation programs and the kids who live in our affordable living communities," Kohs told WWJ's Beth Fisher.
Items in need for donation include backpacks, pencils, pens, notebooks, erasers, binders, glue sticks, crayons, markers, tissue packets, and other essentials that help students succeed in school.
Showing up on the first day of school without the proper tools can make a child look and feel different from classmates, which can cause embarrassment and stress. This signature Samaritas effort helps children in already challenging situations overcome barriers and highlights the nonprofit's mission-focused imperative to create "ripples of transformation" throughout communities.
Samaritas will be collecting backpacks at all of its locations statewide through August 15. Donations can be dropped off at the following locations:
- Samaritas Detroit Headquarters -- 8131 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit
- Samaritas Grand Rapids-- 207 E Fulton, 4th Floor, Grand Rapids
- Community Center Saginaw -- 3145 Russell Street, Saginaw
- Senior Living Bloomfield Hills -- 6257 Telegraph Rd., Bloomfield Hills
- Samaritas Senior Living Traverse City -- 4354 Mt Hope Rd., Williamsburg
- Foster Care Ann Arbor -- 3820 Packard Rd., Ste. 170, Ann Arbor
- Foster Care Metro Detroit -- 2170 E. Big Beaver Rd., Ste. B , Troy
- Foster Care Flint -- 1024 Professional Dr., Ste. A3, Flint
- Foster Care Port Huron -- 312 Superior Mall, Port Huron
- Foster Care Grand Rapids -- 207 E Fulton St., Grand Rapids
- Foster Care Benton Harbor -- 185 E. Main, Ste. 405, Benton Harbor
- Foster Care Jackson -- 729 W. Michigan Ave., Ste. 200, Jackson
- Foster Care Lansing -- 1545 Keystone Ave., Lansing
- Foster Care Kalamazoo -- 4341 S. Westnedge Ave., Ste. 2000, Kalamazoo
For more information, go to samaritas.org.
