Volunteers Fill 650 Backpacks With Donated School Supplies At Yarrow Family YMCA

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - July 21, 2025 - PRLog -- Volunteers gathered at the Yarrow Family YMCA to fill 650 backpacks with donated school supplies last week..

Five hundred fifty backpacks will be distributed to participants in the Southeast Ventura County YMCA's Find My Genius, a free five-week summer program to support academic and social-emotional learning for low- and moderate-income students who are not reading at grade level. One hundred backpacks will be given to children affected by the California wildfires identified through the YMCA's California Strong initiative.

Volunteers from Kohl's Cares, Kohl's nonprofit foundation, were part of the group of volunteers.

Donated items included pencils, pencil boxes, 24-packs of crayons, erasers, 3-pocket folders, glue sticks, and hand sanitizers.

"It's important for students to have the tools they need to start off the school year right," says Dani Hutchison, Southeast Ventura County YMCA chief development officer. "We're thankful to all those who made donations and who gave of their time to ensure hundreds of kids are ready when school starts."

This summer, over 500 young scholars are taking part in Find My Genius programs in Simi Valley and Moorpark. The programs, which began in 2018, rely solely on donations from the community. To find out more and to donate, go to www.sevymca.org/find-my-genius.