Adopt a Product

Our dedicated partner, HarperCollins Publishers, adopts the dictionaries each year. Here you can see the sign that would accompany your contribution at Sort Week.

The success of Operation Backpack® (OBP) relies 100% on support from the community in New York City and beyond. The donations that we receive from both partners and the public help us purchase top-quality items so that each child not only receives a sturdy, often stylish, backpack, but also supplies that will last through the entire school year. 

In recent years, we've had several partners who have been able to contribute to OBP in a unique way by "adopting a product," — paying for all or a significant portion of one school supply. By adopting a product, you ensure that no child goes without. If your team volunteers at Sort Week, not only will you be able to handle the product you purchased and physically put it into the backpacks for the children, but your gift will also be acknowledged with a sign highlighting your company's contribution, which will be seen by almost 2,000 volunteers. We'll also publicize your generosity on our social media channels, which you are welcome to share with your own audiences. 

Below you'll find a list of the supplies that are up for adoption, along with the quantity of the item that we need and the cost, which we obtain by leveraging economies of scale:

3,117 Geometry Sets= $8,291.22

15,600 Composition Notebooks (Wide Ruled)= $13,104.00

3,068 Loose leaf paper (College Ruled)= $3,221.40

5,050 Subject Dividers= $4,242.00

4,370 Graph Paper= $3,931.20

39,000 Pocket Folders= $26,208.00


If you're interested in adopting any of these items, please contact Andrew Zibell at (212) 496-4307 or azibell@voa-gny.org. Or, if you, your family and friends would like to "adopt a product" and raise funds to purchase a specific item, start a CrowdRise team!