Ormond Girls Give Donation for School Backpacks

An Ormond Beach teen started a nonprofit group, Ormond Beach Girls Give, to help the community and donated its first check for $2,200 in August 2019 to provide backpacks and school supplies to economically disadvantaged children.

An Ormond Beach teen started a nonprofit group, Ormond Beach Girls Give, to help the community and donated its first check for $2,200 in August 2019 to provide backpacks and school supplies to economically disadvantaged children.

Kyle Stewart was a sophomore at Seabreeze High School earlier this year when she started Ormond Beach Girls Give “to not only benefit other nonprofit organizations, but to also help other people like me, find a place to lend a hand and give back to our community,” she wrote on the group’s Facebook page.

In June, Kyle took to social media to raise funds for Operation Backpack, which provides 7,500 backpacks filled with school supplies each August to students in need in Volusia and Flagler counties. During the summer, Kyle posted regularly on Facebook and Instagram as she appealed for $25 donations to provide one backpack with school supplies. In one month, she raised enough to give backpacks to 88 children in need.

“I just wanted to use social media in a positive way to let people know how they could help out,” said Kyle, who will turn 16 this month and hopes to become a nurse.

The Jewish Federation of Volusia & Flagler Counties has provided more than 112,000 backpacks with school supplies over the past 23 years. Another 7,500 backpacks will be delivered to area schools to distribute to students in need, regardless of race or religion, before school starts Aug. 12 in the two counties.

One hundred percent of donations go directly to buy backpacks because the Jewish Federation absorbs all administrative costs. To donate, please send a check to Operation Backpack, c/o the Jewish Federation of Volusia & Flagler Counties, 470 Andalusia Ave., Ormond Beach, FL, 32174, or call 386-672-0294 for more info.

$2,200 Donated by Ormond Beach Girls Give
112,000 Backpacks Handed Out Over Last 23 Years
7,500 More Backpacks Being Donated by August