Now Through July 7 — Donate to Operation Backpack® at Walgreens and Duane Reade Stores

From Saturday, June 15 through Sunday, July 7 customers shopping at Walgreens and Duane Reade stores in all five boroughs of New York City and on Long Island will be able to donate to the 2019 Operation Backpack® campaign at check-out. This is the fifth year that our partners at Walgreens and Duane Reade will raise money for the drive, giving their customers an important way to contribute to the campaign’s success. Last year, thanks to the generosity of shoppers, the in-store campaign raised $74,000 in two weeks, and was instrumental in allowing us to purchase all the supplies needed for the 20,000 backpacks given to children living in homeless and domestic violence shelters across the city.

We’re excited to partner with Walgreens and Duane Reade again this year, and are grateful for their support, as well as the support of thousands of New Yorkers (and beyond!) who open their hearts to us each year by donating. This year, the point-of-sale campaign is also featured on Taxi TV in more than 6,500 cabs around the city, thanks to our friends at CMT Group, who have donated the ad space to promote the cause.

Operation Backpack®, organized by Volunteers of America-Greater New York (VOA-GNY), began over a decade ago as a small grassroots effort that asked the public to donate gently used backpacks and school supplies for the 700 children living in VOA’s homeless and domestic violence shelters. Now in its 16th year, Operation Backpack® has become NYC’s largest back-to-school drive. Last year, with the support of corporate partners, hundreds of companies, and thousands of people in the community, we distributed 20,000 new backpacks to all of the children living in homeless and domestic violence shelters citywide. These backpacks were filled with grade-appropriate school supplies, and the students were filled with excitement — and hope. We anticipate the need for approximately the same number of backpacks this year.