9 Family partners with Hope Now for annual backpack-a-thon to help kids in need

ORLANDO, Fla. — 9 Family connection is partnering with the non-profit “Hope Now” for its annual backpack-a-thon.

The annual tradition is entering its 16th year. On Monday, it will start accepting donations for its backpack-a-thon.

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“It’s an exciting day for Central Florida. Whenever there’s a great need, Central Florida always comes together,” said volunteer president for Hope Now, Michale Radka. “The hope is that anybody that’s hearing about this initiative will stop and realize that they can make a great difference, even if there is one child. But we don’t just have one child. We have thousands of children.”

The goal is to collect enough donations to fill 10,000 backpacks. Sadly, Hope Now fell short last year, only filling 8,000.

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“There’s great difficulties, especially coming out of COVID. Children are still going to school, whether they’re being educated at home or in a brick-and-mortar school building. They still are being educated,” Radka said.

Donations will provide a backpack, school supplies, a haircut and even a health screening for children.

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And because it’s a virtual school supply drive, you can make your donations online.

“There are still children that live in our community that didn’t ask to be born into the tough situation that they are. They need help. And sometimes it’s tough to figure out how to go to a website and say I can make a difference,” Radka said.

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You can CLICK HERE for more info on how you can donate.

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