Backpacks are a source of pride for students. It’s something they take with them to school and see every day, said Genevieve Flores-Haro, the Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project associate director.
“We are currently fundraising dollars to purchase backpacks and backpack supplies—but we’ll also take new school supplies. Pens, paper, notebooks, coloring pencils, markers crayons. It’s a spectrum,” Flores-Haro said.
The backpack drive kicked off in late June with the fundraising goal of $10,000 by July 31. Thus far, the Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) has raised 17 percent of its goal and is seeing strong participation, Flores-Haro continued.
“It’s important for people to participate because it’s an investment [in] our students and [it] makes sure they have access to school supplies as they go into the next school year,” she said.
MICOP’s backpack drive began at the Oxnard offices in 2011 as a response to indigenous families’ needs in Ventura County. In 2019, the nonprofit added a new Santa Maria location and expanded its outreach for all services, including the backpack drive.
“It’s [the drive] changed as our geographic expansion increased into the Santa Maria area. In the past, our goal was 500, 600 backpacks just in Ventura County, but that’s increased as we’ve added offices and geographic outreach,” she said. “When I started six years ago, we were a staff of about 45 and now, we’re a staff of about 100. I’m really excited about our presence in Santa Maria. We have a great team there.”
With this year’s $10,000 goal, Flores-Haro and her team hope to fill 1,000 backpacks between the two counties for students in kindergarten all the way up to college.
“The families we are serving are farm-working families, indigenous-language speaking families. These are the families that pick the fruit that we eat, and that’s why it’s even more important for folks to show up for the families and support their children,” she added.
This drive makes an even greater impact for families because many are still feeling the pandemic’s sting along with rising costs impacting goods like school supplies, Flores-Haro said.
“It’s a sense of security for the students,” she said. “It’s something for them to take to school and [we’re] supporting the parents as well who maybe can’t afford some of these items. It provides dignity to the family too.”
Before the pandemic, the drive was set up like an office supply store where families could shop around to pick out the items they needed. During COVID-19, MICOP filled the bags with items and families pre-registered for a backpack. Flores-Haro said this year the organization is still having families register but she isn’t sure if it will be a store experience yet.
Once the campaign ends, MICOP will buy supplies, pack backpacks, and distribute items by Aug. 12 for pickup at either the Santa Maria or Oxnard locaions.
People looking to donate to the backpack drive can visit mixteco.org and click on their donate icon at the top right. Families looking to register for a backpack can call the Santa Maria office at (805) 623-5862.
Highlight:
• The Santa Maria Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety is coordinating free drop-in activities for seventh through 12th graders from 3 to 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in July. The supervised summer program will take place at Armstrong Park—1000 East Chapel St.—on July 5, 12, 19, and 26. The program will also be offered at Rotary Centennial Park—2625 South College Drive—on July 7, 14, 21, and 28. Pop-up events include drip-dye decorating, splash softball, and super soaker and water balloon battles. Additionally, the public library’s bookmobile will be on-site during the Armstrong Park events to coordinate craft activities, loan out books, and provide library services from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Questions may be directed to the Recreation and Parks Department at (805) 925-0951 Ext. 2260.
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 7-14, 2022.
