GivingBackPacks is a social startup that is predicated upon the one-for-one model. For every backpack purchased, we donate a backpack filled with school supplies to a child in need. I founded GivingBackPacks last summer, and after this summer, we will have donated nearly 2,000 backpacks with school supplies to underserved children across the United States.

There are nearly 16-million children in the United States that live in families with income levels below the federal poverty line. These families struggle to afford basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter, and so when back-to-school season rolls around, they do not have the funds for school supplies. The children are then entirely ill-equipped to participate in the classroom and lack the self-esteem and confidence to strive for success.

Through GivingBackPacks, I aim to enhance the educational standard in the United States by ensuring that low-income students are equipped with the tools they need to succeed in an academic setting - even if their families are unable to provide them with such.

In the backpacks we donate, there is a binder, a packet of notebook paper, a spiral notebook, a packet of one-dozen pencils, a packet of 24 crayons, a pair of scissors, a glue bottle, 2 glue sticks, 2 pencil erasers, a 12-inch ruler, and a pencil sharpener. We worked with the Miami Dade County Public School board to determine which supply items are most essential for elementary and secondary-level students, and this is the list that resulted.