Leading a Backpack Drive is rewarding and fun.
Thank you for your interest in the Back-to-School Wish Drive. To give you a bit more information, here is the general overview of our Back-to-School Drive program.
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 3, Wednesday: Drive Leader Registration opens
- April 25, Thursday - SOS Event at Town & Country, 2:00-pm 6:00 pm
- April 25, Thursday: General Information Session
- May 1, Wednesday: BTS VGTs Go Live
- June 3- 7, Monday-Friday: Mass Mailing/packet & box pickups
- June 5, Wednesday: Community Volunteer Registration Opens
- June 10, Monday: Formal External 2024 BTS Drive Launch Date
- July 8, Monday: Warehouse Opens & Volunteer shifts begin
- July 17, Wednesday: Drive Leader Early Drop-off
- July 23-25, Tuesday - Thursday: Drop-Off Days
- August 13th, Tuesday: Last Day with volunteers in the warehouse
- September 5, Thursday: BTS VGT’s End (@9:00 PM)
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . We are more than happy to help support you throughout the Drive to ensure a positive experience.
Enjoy a brief video tour of our warehouse and see the smiles on kids' faces because of the hundreds of Drive Leaders who work on our behalf.
