A national nonprofit helped local military families gear up for the school year by distributing free backpacks filled with supplies to children in Torrance on Saturday.
Operation Homefront, in partnership with volunteers from Kellanova, said it handed out 160 backpacks from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday during its annual Back-to-School Brigade event at the Western Museum of Flight.
The initiative is designed to ease the financial burden of back-to-school shopping for military families, many of whom face unique challenges such as frequent relocations, deployments and unpredictable training schedules. According to Operation Homefront, military children change schools an average of six to nine times between kindergarten and graduation.
“School shopping season is stressful for any parent, but for military families, it often comes right on the heels of a major move,” the organization said in a statement. “The Back-to-School Brigade program is about more than just pencils and notebooks. It’s about easing financial stress, helping children feel confident, and building a sense of belonging and community, even when everything else feels unfamiliar.”
Since 2008, Operation Homefront said it has distributed nearly 600,000 backpacks nationwide, saving military families more than $60 million in school expenses.
Operation Homefront provides a variety of support services for military families, including financial assistance and transitional housing. According to the organization, 83% of its expenditures go directly to programs supporting tens of thousands of families each year. More information is available at OperationHomefront.org.
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