Already, nearly 2,200 have been given to county school systems in Cabell, Gilmer, Hampshire, Kanawha, Logan, Morgan and Wayne counties, as well as to the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. The remaining backpacks will be distributed to other counties at Cedar Lakes Conference Center in Ripley on Nov. 5 beginning at 8 a.m.
Each year, between 900,000 and 1.4 million children and youth in the United States experience homelessness, including about 3,000 in West Virginia.
“The West Virginia Department of Education is committed to ensuring that all West Virginia children experiencing homelessness have the opportunity to attend, enroll in and succeed in school,” said state Superintendent Steve Paine. “These backpacks will give children facing a difficult situation something of their own that can help make school a little easier during a trying time.”
For more information, contact the Office of Communications at (304) 558-2699.