10 Sep Back to School Drive Serves 3,000 students
The Alliance hosted the 13th Annual Back to School Drive in partnership with PlazAmericas Mall on August 18, 2020. During our largest community service project of the year, we distributed school supplies and other essential items to children who want nothing more than a chance to learn with the right tools. Historically the event was organized as a mall extravaganza with Nonprofit-Business Expo and Health Fair components. To provide the necessary resources while adhering with the best health and safety guidelines, this year’s back to school drive was reformatted as a drive thru and walk up distribution.
The need was greater than ever this year with COVID-19 having devastating impacts on the communities we served. Many community members experienced disruption in one sense or another, with many losing their source of income and struggling to meet their daily needs. During the event, families received bags filled with school supplies, educational materials, healthcare giveaways, and nonprofit & business materials. The Alliance also partnered with Brighter Bites and Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Greater Houston/Galveston and Texas Children’s Hospital to provide boxes with fresh produce and free children’s immunizations.
Additionally, Census Bureau workers joined us to continue outreach efforts, passing out vital information and helping community members register and fill out census forms. The southwest region of Houston, while home to diverse communities and languages, is at high risk of being missed and undercounted. The response rate in Harris County is currently 58.7%, falling behind the 59% rate in Texas and that of the national response rate of 63.9%. It’s important that everyone is counted, because the census is used to determine how many representatives in Congress we can have as a state, how billions of federal dollars are distributed to state and local communities, which impacts funding for local schools, roads and public services.
This year, we were able to distribute school supply bags to 3,000 students and their families in the Southwest Houston area and give out over 550 fresh food boxes. Thank you to our sponsors, media, corporate and nonprofit partners, volunteers, staff and a number of generous individuals who helped us celebrate this annual tradition of serving the Southwest Houston community, promoting literary and helping prepare families for the upcoming school year.
Our sponsors & donors: PlazAmericas Mall, H-E-B, Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH), The Select Center for Economic Opportunity, Brighter Bites Houston, Southwest District, Telemundo Houston, RMHC of Greater Houston/ Galveston, Inc., Texas Children’s Hospital, McDonald’s, Filipino Young Professionals of Houston (FYP), Amerigroup, Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, Harwin Signs LLC, Adriatico Investment Group llc dba Consulting & Brokerage, The SAI Group
Our partners: Ted Heap, Harris County Constable Precinct 5, Legacy Community Health – Southwest, Houston Public Library, Étoile Academy Charter School, Ibn Sina Community Medical & Dental Center, Memorial Hermann Nurse Health Line, HOPE Clinic, Houston in Action, City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Houston Unity Lions Club, Houston Royal Oaks Lions Club, Houston Police Department, Spectrum Uniforms, Bo’s Place, Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Houston, United Way of Greater Houston, Texas Health and Human Services Commission