Operation Backpack 2026

Welcome back as families get ready for the new school year. One local organization is making sure kids have the supplies they need to succeed. Volunteers of America Michigan is kicking off its annual Operation Backpack campaign, hence all these backpacks, and I've got David with Volunteers of America to tell us all about it. Welcome David, and what's Operation Backpack for those who don't know? Operation Backpack is a fantastic program. VOA Michigan has been serving the Michigan community for about 130 years. It's actually our 130th anniversary this year. Primarily we serve veterans, seniors, and families, and Operation Backpack is one of those family programs. We rely on the community to help us fundraise, to help us gain support, help us gain supplies, and last year we were able to give out about 2,800 backpacks to kids who are underserved in the metro Detroit community. I think that that's an amazing cause, and I can only imagine the impact that that has for families, because I would imagine people need supplies like this. Oh absolutely, I mean I don't have to tell anybody how expensive this has gotten. I mean it's well over a hundred dollars for one backpack filled with supplies for a typical person. Multiply that by the number of children you have, and it can be a real financial burden for people. So what goes inside of the backpacks? We have a couple different backpacks depending on how old the kids are. We have a lower ed and an upper ed for kids. So the lower ed, it's a lot of things that you'd expect to find in an elementary school backpack. It's crayons, it's markers, it's construction paper, things like that. For the older kids, they're going to get what they need to be successful. It's graphing calculators, it's notebooks, it's other calculators, protractors, things of that nature. That is a very smart idea to divide it so that, you know, you don't have the high schooler or somebody getting it and like, hey these scissors don't cut. Exactly, right. Very nice. So you know, you've done this for a long time. Yep. What is it like on the day where everybody comes and gets the backpacks? I would imagine there's a lot of emotion. It is absolutely incredible. We're blessed to have a great partnership with the Detroit Zoo. We did it for the first time at the zoo last year, and it went absolutely incredibly. We're going to be back at the zoo again this year on August 11th. Anybody that needs a backpack is encouraged to go to our website, which is vomi.org and register. I'm proud to say that we were able to give away about a thousand backpacks at the zoo last year as part of 2,800 in total, but we didn't hit the community need. There are more kids out there than 2,800 that need backpacks. Do you have a goal this year? Do you know how many backpacks you got? I'd like to get over 3,000 this year, again 2,800 last year, and people in the community can visit our website too, vomi.org. They can start a drive, they can participate in the drive, they can buy a backpack, buy supplies, or make a donation. And I think, right, you've got a little note from a kid about the impact. You want to read that? Yeah, it's from his mom. It says, I currently take care of my daughter who is disabled. She currently has a trach. She is beginning school this fall, and we're so excited. Due to me losing my job because my daughter was sick, I'm unable to purchase school supplies this year. I'm a mother of five who's struggling to make ends meet. I hope you understand this hardship for me, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to submit an application. And I just thought that was incredible because she's not expecting a backpack, she's not expecting supplies, she's just grateful that this program exists. And a lot of people are just like her, grateful a program exists and hopeful that people like y'all would participate and help it make it a success. How does it feel to read something like that and to see this need? Because, you know, a lot of people who may not volunteer or anything like that, they may not understand how big of a deal this kind of stuff is. It's a huge deal. I mean, this program makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that we're able to serve a community need, a real community need that really makes an impact in so many lives. It makes me sad that we're not able to get there. And to answer your question, it's an incredible feeling to help somebody. I think too often people try to convince themselves that their time or their money or their effort isn't valuable, that it won't actually make an impact. If that's you, if you're thinking, how can I get involved? How can I change a kid's life or a family's life? Operation Backpack is here ready for you. You can jump online, buy a backpack, volunteer, and make a difference. Very, very nice. And so, real quick, where can they find you guys? Our website is the absolute best place to go. It's V-O-A-M-I, V for volunteers, so V-O-A-M-I.org. The first thing you'll see on our website is Operation Backpack. You can click that button, that's where you can register to sign up to get a backpack. We're never able to hit the whole community need, so we're taking registrations, not guarantees, but hopefully the community can help us make it a guarantee. Very nice. Well, I know you can see the information on your screen and you can totally make a difference. And then, real quick, David, if you had to pick a color of the backpack, which one would you go for? You know what, this one matches my eyes, so I think I'll take the flamboyant one, you know? Well thought out, well thought out. I kind of like the highlighter yellow one. I'm sure that the kids have a lot of fun. Absolutely. And getting to see all those supplies and stuff, and that stuff costs a lot of money. It really does. It really does. So, really going to help out a lot of people. Well, thank you so much, David, for joining us. Thank you. Volunteers of America. Remember, check out their information. You can learn more about it at fox2detroit.com. Stick around after the break. We got more fun stuff, and if you can believe it, even more food coming up later. I know, I'm getting stuffed here. I just ate a whole bunch of burgers.