Student Group Collects School Supplies For Homeless Youth

Occupational therapy students donate 65 backpacks full of supplies to a local non-profit organization.

The Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) student group at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) recently donated 65 backpacks full of supplies for the upcoming school year to an organization in Manchester, NH, called Families in Transition. The organization provides affordable housing and emergency services to the homeless population in the area.

COTAD members held a drive for two weeks on the Manchester/Worcester campuses to gather the school supplies. They also reached out to local businesses to fundraise and collect additional materials, obtaining donations from Puritan Backroom, Granite State Escape, Thirsty Moose Taphouse, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Queen City Cupcakes, Chunky’s Cinema Pub, Bridge Street Café, and Ben & Jerry’s Elm Street. Timberland donated the backpacks and Bookery Manchester donated 101 children's books.

The backpacks included pencils, erasers, scissors, rulers, notebooks, books, crayons/markers, glue sticks, folders, water bottles, adhesive bandages, sticky note pads, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. The Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene provided the toothbrushes and toothpaste, the Manchester Admission Office supplied the water bottles, and Career Services donated the notebooks, adhesive bandages, and sticky note pads.