SBCSS News and Press Releases

County Schools To Deliver 1,900 Backpack, Supplies To Homeless Education Students

2010-02-02

SAN BERNARDINO - Homeless education program students from San Bernardino County will be the beneficiaries of 1,900 backpacks, along with school supplies, books, hygiene products and snacks, which were delivered today.

The supplies will be distributed among the county's 33 school districts through a partnership between the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools and Feed The Children, a national non-profit organization.

"These backpacks and supplies should bring some smiles to students' faces," County Superintendent Gary Thomas said. "We are very appreciative of Feed The Children for its efforts on behalf of our students. This is a wonderful gesture."

The backpacks and supplies will be given to districts to distribute to their homeless students by Feb. 9.

Brenda Dowdy, coordinator of the County Schools' Homeless Education program, said the donations are helpful, although homelessness for students countywide is a much bigger issue.

"Countywide, we've been able to identify more than 19,000 homeless students," she said. "It doesn't matter where the district or the school site is located, because homeless students are concerns for every area of our county."

Feed The Children, based in Oklahoma City, Okla., is an international relief organization that supplied more than 133 million pounds of food and supplies to children in the United States and in 34 foreign countries last year. For more information about the group, visit its Web site at www.feedthechildren.org.

For more information on the County Schools' Homeless Education program, contact Dowdy at brenda_dowdy@sbcss.k12.ca.us or by phone at (909) 386-2634.