Muslim group’s project helps kids.
Muslim group’s backto-school drive provides kids in need with tools to do well in school
A labor of charitable love on Sunday had volunteers — mostly Muslim, mostly kids — stuffing 750 backpacks full of necessities for the coming school year.
It was the Muslim American Society’s 10th annual Back to School Backpack Project, which aims to equip underprivileged and vulnerable children with the tools needed to go back to school just as prepared as their peers.
“The first day of school can be embarrassing for some of the kids, a reminder that they are different,” said Bhawana Kamil of the Muslim American Society. “This is not just giving them stuff, it’s helping them feel that they’re on the same level as everyone else in the class, to give them confidence, and feel normal — something in their life is the same as the other kids.”
They worked in assembly-line fashion, with a line of products that young volunteers would pick up and put in the bag, before handing it over to older volunteers for a quality assessment to make sure nothing was missing or doubled. Younger kids get the bright patterned bags, with crayons and glue sticks. Older kids get the black and grey backpacks with pens and pencils and file folders.
They’re piled in a U-Haul and taken to various organizations that deal with vulnerable children, such as the Legal Advocates for Children and Youth, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Silicon Valley and Next
“I like that we’re giving them things, sometimes people might laugh at them because they don’t have what other kids have.” — Ayaan Sultan, 9, volunteer
Door Solutions for Domestic Violence.
“Our community visibly seems to have a lot of wealth, but there is poverty in Silicon Valley, a big income gap,” said Kamil. “These are for foster children, victims of domestic violence, refugees or just kids with families who have a hard time making ends meet.”
Last year was the drive’s largest, with a daunting 1,500 backpacks assembled. But they found it to be overkill; with other organizations also holding similar drives they initially didn’t find takers for all the supplies. This year MAS opted to consult with the organizations they work with and get a target number.
Those 750 backpacks are a far cry from the 25 backpacks they gave out in the inaugural year. Back then, Kamil said, they didn’t have an organized system — people would see items on sale and donate what they could. Now, because the effort is so kid-friendly, they actually have to turn volunteers away — it’s limited to four shifts, 40 to 50 people per shift.
Also new for this year: Working with Roonga, an online supply drive coordinator. That, said Kamil, has resulted in an uptick in the quality of products given out — while budget-minded selections may get the most bang for the buck, higher quality comes from pencils with lead that doesn’t fall out when they’re sharpened, crayons that don’t snap in half when held, zippers that don’t easily get derailed.
“We’re very careful about our vendor selection,” said Evelyn Horng of Roonga. “I have my own kids try out different backpacks to check for flaws as much as can be.”
Kamil said they could be more efficient if they bought pre-packaged kits, but eliminating that step would kill the jobs that younger kids are able to do. And that’s a key part of the program — teaching youth through example the benefits gleaned from generosity. Some of the kids were still toddlers, but managed to pull an empty backpack through the filling stations. Kamil said that as soon as they can walk around they can find something for them to do to help the drive.
“I like helping other kids,” said Ayaan Sultan, who is approaching his 10th birthday and is already a veteran volunteer, having served as a bag assembler for about half his life. “I like that we’re giving them things, sometimes people might laugh at them because they don’t have what other kids have.”
It was his sister’s birthday — Zara had just turned 8. Their mother Faiza Ahmed said that made it a particularly good day to be generous.
“A birthday can be about more than receiving gifts,” Ahmed. “It can also be for giving a little. I think it makes them feel good to know that someone will be getting a backpack, even if they don’t know who that is.”