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BETHLEHEM, PA. – Needy children and teen mothers returning to school this fall will be fully stocked with supplies thanks to the “Backpacks to Brighten” project organized by St. Luke’s School of Nursing (SON) Student Nurse Association. St. Luke’s hospital and staff donated the many supplies and backpacks that will be distributed to children and families who wouldn’t otherwise have them before the start of school.

Donation boxes were put out at St. Luke’s University hospital campuses in Bethlehem and Allentown, Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine and St. Luke’s Place in July. Students from SON will collect the boxes on Wednesday, August 9, and assemble the backpacks. Select families are invited to come to Room 112 of the Priscilla Payne Hurd Education Center on the Bethlehem campus at 1 p.m. on Thursday, August 10, to choose their backpacks. The remaining backpacks will be distributed by community health nurses who visit families in their home. 

“These children often do not have basic school supplies to start their school year,” said SON Student Nurse Association advisor Nancy Kanuck. “Our nurses who provide parenting support, education and guidance to these area families through various grant programs want to fill this need and make the children feel special.”

Totes and supplies also are given to teen mothers who may be returning to high school to complete their GED, going to community college or attending a trade school, Kanuck said. St. Luke’s nurses who work with families throughout the year to provide parenting support, education or assistance identify those who could be helped by the program.

Donated items include backpacks, messenger bags, lunch boxes, pencils, pencil cases, glue, markers, folders, notebooks, binders and index cards. More than 100 backpacks and messenger bags will be distributed.