SHARE Omaha’s community-wide Back to School drive, presented by Wells Fargo, helped students start the school year on the right foot. More than 2,000 caring neighbors across the greater Omaha metro took time out of their summer to view nonprofit school supply wish lists and help area youth go back to school with everything they need for a successful school year. Thousands of items were donated by community members through the drive and each nonprofit’s outreach efforts.
This initiative amplified the programs of 17 local nonprofits providing school supplies to the more than 6,500 students they serve. The participating nonprofits – 3Sisters, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands, Bluebird Cultural Initiative, Child Evangelism Fellowship Omaha, Completely KIDS, COPE, CRCC, Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands, Educare of Omaha, Emerging Ladies Academy, Femi’s Heart Foundation, Foster Love Omaha, Heartland Hope Mission, NorthStar Foundation, Omaha Home for Boys, Open Door Mission, and Womenade of Elkhorn – united to share details about their programs and the items they need on the SHAREomaha.org website.
The drive, presented by Wells Fargo, exceeded expectations in the quality and quantity of supplies donated.
“We are proud to elevate SHARE Omaha’s Back to School Drive and contribute to the academic success of the students who will become our community’s future leaders,” said Cristina Castro-Matukewicz, Wells Fargo senior vice president of community affairs. “There is joy in receiving new school supplies, and there is power in a new backpack. We are honored to partner with SHARE Omaha for this community-wide initiative to empower education.”
In addition, Wells Fargo provided volunteers to help 3Sisters prepare for their Back to School Bash on August 19. Local Wells Fargo employees took time out of their workday to sort and fill backpacks for the event.
In conjunction with the community-wide drive, Stinson Park at Aksarben Village turned the Battle of the Bands event on August 12 and 13 into a battle for good encouraging fans to bring school supplies to help their favorite band win the battle.
The band Simplicated helped collect over 440 items plus cash donations for CRCC. The band Personic’s collection for Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands is rescheduled to October 1 due to rain.
SHARE Omaha will continue to promote the item wish lists of almost 300 nonprofits with their year-round Shop for Good initiative, presented by Wells Fargo. Givers can utilize SHAREomaha.org to explore wish lists, purchase items and ship directly to the nonprofits who need them for program use, allowing donors to know exactly how their dollar is used. By giving back in this way, donors are saving nonprofits time and money so that they can focus on their mission.
