Each summer, KVC Kentucky hosts a Back-to-School Drive to collect school supplies for the children and families we serve. While anyone can donate to this drive, two generous donors stood out this year for their incredible support: Tower Hill Insurance and Tempur Sealy! Hear how these organizations have paid it forward to make a difference for children and families in Kentucky.

What is the KVC Back-to-School Drive?

Preparing for a new school year can be stressful for all children and families. However, many of those we serve at KVC struggle with extraneous circumstances that can make back-to-school prep overwhelming. In addition to mental health strategies for going back to school, some students and their families need extra support getting the practical things in order, like school supplies.

KVC Kentucky’s Back-to-School Drive happens every summer, helping us provide much-needed school supplies to the children and families we serve. The opportunities to donate range from individual backpacks, pens, pencils, calculators, binders and more to preparing fully-stocked backpacks of supplies for children!

As a provider of behavioral healthcare, substance use treatment and family preservation and reunification services, KVC Kentucky works with children and families who are often dealing with very difficult and even traumatic times. Our Back-to-School Drive is one more way we can positively impact the lives of over 14,000 children and families each year. Providing supplies takes the stress and overwhelm of getting ready for a school year off the shoulders of the parents.

Tower Hill Insurance Builds Backpacks for Students in Need

This is Tower Hill Insurance’s fourth year supporting KVC’s Back-to-School Drive, and this year they made it easier than ever for employees to get involved by setting up a “Build a Backpack” link where employees could purchase everything with a single click! Each backpack they built contained notebooks, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue sticks, erasers, folders, a ruler, and a pencil box. Everything an elementary student needs for the coming school year!

Tower Hill Insurance has always been passionate about back-to-school drives, supporting one local to its central office in Gainesville, Florida. Accordingly, they expanded this vision to encompass all of their regional offices. They started looking for a back-to-school drive they could more easily support as a whole business. “We were drawn to KVC’s mission to support families and children affected by mental health or behavioral health issues,” explains Ashley Kerr of Tower Hill Insurance. “To see how many families KVC’s services reach is impressive. We want to help support in any way we can.”

We are so thankful for their support, making the first day of school a positive experience for each child! 

Tempur Sealy Emerging Leaders Supports KVC

Previously, the Tempur Sealy Emerging Leaders team has partnered with KVC Kentucky many times, including aiding Eastern Kentucky flood relief efforts last year. Hosting a drive to support our back-to-school efforts was a no-brainer for these long-time supporters of KVC! When asked why they chose to partner as a generous contributor to KVC, Tempur Sealy’s Emery Karem said, “We were particularly impressed by KVC’s holistic approach to addressing the diverse needs of families, ensuring that children receive the emotional, social and educational support they need to succeed.”

This back-to-school drive is about more than just collecting some school supplies. As Karem put it, “Our donations take the stress off of the families and it is our chance to step in and provide for the community. It provides security for them knowing that their kids have the necessary tools for them to succeed.” What may be a few pencils and notebooks to you is a major source of support for Kentucky families.

Together, more than 100 backpacks full of supplies were provided to children across our service area this year alone. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a significant difference in the life of a child. It helps them feel confident that they have the supplies they need going into the new school year!

Support Our Mission at KVC Kentucky!

Whether it be donating school supplies, volunteering or making a donation online, every little bit you can do to support KVC Kentucky helps countless families get the help and support they need.

Ways to Donate

When donating school supplies or ready-to-go backpacks in person, you can drop off your donations at the KVC Kentucky office nearest you before the start of the new school year. However, there are a few other ways you can support the Back-to-School Drive if you need a simpler way to give or are looking for an opportunity to provide even greater support:

Order from Amazon

Instead of going to a local department store to shop for school supplies, purchase donations on our Amazon Wishlist to save yourself the shopping time! Simply ship purchases to your home or business and then bring them to your local KVC office when they arrive.

Make an Online Donation

If you’re strapped for time but want to support the drive, consider making a monetary donation online and let us do the shopping for you! Leave a note in the comment section indicating your donation is for Back-to-School Drive supplies and we’ll make sure your gift gets to the right place. These donations may be used for other essential items not collected in the drive, like school uniforms! 

Host a Donation Drive

Donating to the Back-to-School Drive doesn’t have to be a solo experience—plenty of community groups, churches and businesses like Tempur Sealy and Tower Hill Insurance enjoy working together to host donation drives, making it easier for those in their circle to donate, and having a backpack-filling party is a fun social gathering that does a lot of good for the children in your community. 

Here at KVC Kentucky, we know we all need connection. And efforts like our back-to-school drive are just one more way our community members can support each other. Learn more about giving back.