The 2017 Backpack Challenge kicked off in front of City Hall late last month, and ends soon. We need you!!

The Backpack Challenge collects school supplies for youth in foster care in Philadelphia, and is made possible through a strong partnership between Valley Youth House, the Department of Human Services, iHeartRadio, and Five Below. There are over 50 collection sites throughout the Philadelphia region, and donations are also accepted through VYH’s online drive.

The kickoff was emcee’d by Mina SayWhat, morning DJ personality from WDAS

Tom Harrington, CEO of Valley Youth House says donation bins can be found all across Philadelphia. “You can donate supplies, paper, pens, notebooks, things like that,” he said. “You can go online and make a cash donation and we’ll use that to purchase supplies.” The Backpack Challenge runs until August 18th.

In 2015, Valley Youth welcomed new partners in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland and Detroit and raised over 10,000 backpacks in all five markets. In 2016, we welcomed Houston, Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Washington, DC. 28,256 backpacks were collected across all markets thanks to the help of Five Below. Pittsburgh, Norfolk, Milwaukee, Orlando, and more will be joining us in 2017!

Last year the #BackpackChallenge collected over 7,000 backpacks, $45k worth of school supplies, and $25k in funding to remove financial barriers for foster kids.  There’s still time for you to help out the kids this year.

Mina Say What with students

Keynote speaker Sean Brace, Fox29 sports host who talked about the importance of education with Mina Say What, Department of Human Services Commissioner Cynthia Figueroa and Tom Harrington, CEO of Valley Youth House

Donations will be accepted at collection sites through August 18th. Come see the youth receive their backpacks at the Closing Ceremony on August 22nd, from 1:00-3:00 PM at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts!