As July comes to a close, students are beginning to prepare to go back to school. However, many students don’t have access to the basic school supplies they need to succeed in school. This year, the need is even greater as families struggle with the pandemic, inflation, and a volatile economy.
For the second year in a row, Xfinity, NBC Bay Area, and Telemundo 48 are supporting Family Giving Tree’s Backpack Drive to help collect supplies and funds that will help students and teachers in need. Xfinity is offering its support by providing 21 retail locations throughout the Bay Area to serve as drop-off sites for backpack donations by the public.
This year, for their 26th annual Back-to-School Drive, Family Giving Tree has set a goal to provide 26,000 supply-filled backpacks to students from families facing financial hardship. Xfinity is donating 100 backpacks filled with school supplies to go towards this goal and students in need. Approximately 200 qualifying schools throughout the Bay Area will receive backpacks through the program. For many students, these fully stocked backpacks will be the only resource available to start a new school year with the tools and support they need to succeed.
How to Join the Drive:
- Visit your local Comcast Xfinity store in the Bay Area to pick up a backpack tag and then go shopping for a backpack and the listed supplies. Please attach the tag to the backpack and return it to the Comcast Xfinity store. Click here to see a list of stores near you.
- Make a monetary donation here to support our efforts to equip students with their learning essentials.
- Pack a virtual backpack for a student in need with Family Giving Tree here.
In addition to school supplies, another important need for students of all ages, as well as their families, is high-speed Internet access. Comcast is proud to provide Internet Essentials, which offers eligible families high-speed Internet access at home. In California alone, more than 1 million students, parents, veterans, those with disabilities, and seniors are connected to the Internet at home as part of the Internet Essentials program. Since its inception over 10 years ago, Comcast has offered Internet Essentials at home for $9.95 per month. Find out more about the program and see if you are eligible here.
Low-income students and families can also benefit from the Federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible low-income households a credit of up to $30 a month toward the cost of Internet service. ACP is designed to help households connect to the Internet and stay connected, and Comcast is a proud participant service provider. You can learn more at www.xfinity.com/acp.
Whether education happens remotely in the home or in-person in a classroom, the challenges of learning without the basic and proper tools remain. School supplies are scarce necessities for thousands of children from underserved families. You can join Xfinity and make a difference for those in need.
Interested in hearing more about Xfinity’s efforts to support children and low-income families? Watch local news segments in English on NBC Bay Area and in Spanish on Telemundo 48 to continue learning about the Backpack Drive and Xfinity’s other initiatives.