The Zakat Foundation of America

Sep 03, 2010

This year, Ramadan fell right in the heart of back-to-school season, and as children in the Chicagoland area prepared to start another school year, Zakat Foundation is holding its 8th Annual Backpack Distribution program. Partnering with local police departments, mosques, Project Downtown and the Circuit Court of Cook County, Zakat Foundation will be handing out about 600 backpacks filled with school supplies to needy elementary school students in and around Chicago.

Each backpack contains essential school supplies for students including notebooks, pencils, erasers, pens, rulers and glue. They come in different colors and sizes depending on the age group. The backpacks were prepared by Zakat Foundations Social Service Department with the help of volunteers around the Chicago area.

"It is a privilege for Zakat Foundation to be able to provide school supplies and backpacks to so many children. Their excitement at having new things for school is evident in their smiling faces," says Social Service Director, Sheryl Bilal. Through Zakat Foundations Backpack Program, generous donors have contributed tens of thousands of backpacks to poor schoolchildren worldwide. The program continues to expand in the United States, as more families struggle with basic necessities, leaving little room in their budget for school supplies. Started in 2001 under the slogan To Kids, From Kids, With Love, it promotes hands-on humanitarian work for all ages. Children are encouraged to donate backpacks that they have personally filled with school supplies which are then sent overseas.

The Backpack Program is just one of Zakat Foundations education initiatives in the United States and abroad. Zakat Foundation believes that education is a human right through which communities become equipped to better their social and economic conditions.