Our Back-to-School Backpack Program aims to ensure that every student in Missoula is able to kick off the school year with the tools they need to succeed, starting with a backpack. We know that learning is easier when kids feel as confident and well prepared as their peers.
This year, Missoula Chevrolet is our sole sponsor, providing about 900 backpacks each year for local students in need. Thank you!
Why school supplies? Because buying all of the required supplies for one child can easily exceed $100, an amount out of reach for many of our Missoula neighbors. When parents are choosing between providing their children with new sneakers or paying the electric bill, new backpacks – and even crayons or pencils – can become an impossible luxury.
To ensure that backpacks filled with school supplies are given to students who most need them, we’ve partnered with the Centers for Family Resources through local school districts. This way, school faculty who know each family will ensure that kids most in need of support receive the backpacks.
Through bulk, wholesale and nonprofit discounts, United Way is able to purchase the necessary supplies, along with a new backpack, for about one-third of the retail price.
It costs relatively little for us to provide a child with a new, fully stuffed backpack: about $38 for an elementary-school student; $28 for a middle-school student; and $34 for a high-school student.
We're partnering with Missoula County Public Schools' Jumpstart 2026 and McKinney Vento programs, Mineral County School Districts, school districts throughout the county, and other partners. These partners help ensure the filled backpacks go directly to those students most in need.