Backpacks, School Supplies and Hygiene Kits

For the last five years, YLM has been working with several different organizations throughout El Paso to host a Health Fair Day on the YLM grounds. During this big event, over a thousand people come through to gather information from different organizations offering help and assistance, as well as picking up food baskets, school backpacks with supplies hygiene kits.

For many families on either side of the border, back to school is greeted with anxiety and dread by many parents as lists of supplies needed by students seem to grow by a few items every year. From notebooks to wide ruled paper to #2 pencils, there’s no end to the school supplies or the cost.

YLM works hard to find ways to alleviate these financial burdens through donations of items needed. Last year, through year round donations of backpacks, school supplies and hygiene items, over 800 kids received new school supplies, along with a hygiene pack containing items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, combs, washcloths, even a new pair of socks and underwear; and that’s only in El Paso!

Across the border, many children find themselves without school supplies, or hygiene items, as their parents struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Aside from school supplies, students -young and old- require school approved uniforms, which just increases the financial strain so many families live with daily. So many of these families, living in the small dirt street towns along the borders of Juarez, come to the missions we partner with, lining up to receive these needed backpacks filled with supplies. These families see this help as more than a blessing -it is an opportunity for their kids to have a better future through education.

This year, as we prepare for the upcoming distribution, we find ourselves in severe need of school backpacks, supplies, and hygiene items. Listed below is the list of the items and supplies most needed: