United Way of Broward County's MISSION UNITED Backpack Distribution

On Wednesday, August 7, United Way of Broward County’s MISSION UNITED staff and volunteers distributed hundreds of the more than 900 backpacks that were collected and filled with school supplies to active military and Veteran families in Broward County. The remaining backpacks will be distributed to funded partners and agencies.

The backpacks were filled by volunteers with an assortment of necessary school supplies, including notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, highlighters, markers, crayons, glue, folders, index cards, scissors, erasers, and more. They were then handed out at United Way of Broward County’s Jean and David Colker Center via drive-through. The backpacks and supplies are thanks to the contributions from TD Bank, Amex, Castle Group, Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC, Debbie Shapiro, Marsh MMA, DHL, ATT Pioneers, Florida Department of Corrections, MPLT Healthcare, JGR Copa LLC, and community donors.

“This is an annual backpack drive which was created to support Broward County Veterans and their families,” said James Heaton, Vice President of United Way of Broward County’s MISSION UNITED. “It is so important for us to make sure our Veterans and their families are taken care of and have the support they have earned.”

Attendees at the event included Easy 93.1, Kona Ice, who provided free icees to all attendees, and Military Veterans, Active-Duty Service members, National Guard, and Reserve members with children who are Broward County residents. United Way of Broward County’s MISSION UNITED and United Way of Broward County’s NextGen United and Congressman Jared Moskowitz also volunteered to distribute the backpacks throughout the day.

MISSION UNITED is a community-based initiative convening and aligning public and private resources in Broward County to support U.S. military service members, Veterans, and their families by helping them acclimate to civilian life. For more information, please visit MissionUnitedBroward.org.