Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Local Nonprofit Seeks Back-To-School Heroes For Much-Needed Student Backpack Kits

[Photo courtesy Friends In Deed]

Friends In Deed launches community drive to help local students start the school year on equal footing with classmates

Friends In Deed has issued an appeal for community donations as the Pasadena-based nonprofit prepares for its annual Back-to-School event, seeking to assemble 400 backpack kits for local students.

“Our annual “Back-To-School” event is our most important Food Pantry event of the year,” Executive Director Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater and Food Pantry Director Tim Nistler said in an email. “Making sure that the young students in our community can start the year on an equal footing with their classmates is critical.”

The nonprofit will distribute backpacks and school supplies on two consecutive Saturdays, Aug. 2 and 9, to Friends In Deed families. Donation drop-offs begin Saturday, July 5, at 444 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, on the corner of Washington Blvd. and Los Robles Ave.

Community members can bring donations Thursday afternoons between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The organization requests all school supply donations by Friday, July 25, and all backpack donations by Friday, Aug. 1.

“Financial challenges are a major hurdle for our families and this makes it even more difficult for families for big events, like the start of a new school year,” Grater and Nistler said.

Last year’s drive distributed over 400 backpacks and school supply bags.

“It was a huge success and everyone that came for a backpack and school supplies, received them,” Grater and Nistler reported.

“Your participation is critical to our success,” the nonprofit emphasized, referencing their motto: “doing together what we cannot do alone.”

For alternative drop-off arrangements, contact Tim Nistler at timn@friendsindeedpas.org  or call 626-797-6072.

The organization established an Amazon “Friends In Deed School Supply Drive Wish List” at www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DGFRX5F9MXJW for online donations shipped directly to Friends In Deed.

Friends In Deed requests donors avoid backpacks that are all red or all blue. Backpacks should be sturdy enough for students’ daily needs, especially high school students carrying heavy books.

The comprehensive supply list, recommended by Pasadena and Altadena area schools, includes notebook paper, spiral and composition notebooks, pens, No. 2 yellow pencils, erasers, colored markers, highlighters, folders, calculators, scissors, rulers, index cards, glue sticks, binders, staplers, tissue packages, hand sanitizer, and headphones.