The Latino Community Roundtable of Stanislaus County has spent the past five years helping prepare young students in Modesto and Ceres for school with an annual Back-2-School Backpack Drive.

This year, after collecting 1,000 backpacks in 2013, needy children of Turlock will also be included in the drive and given the opportunity to receive essential school supplies they might otherwise not possess.

“We started the backpack drive as a result of a need to help students be prepared for school and to start school with supplies,” LCR’s Education Committee Director Jorge Perez said. “Turlock is a new area for us and our goal is to expand county wide, to help as many children as possible.”

The LCR— an organization focused on the betterment of political, cultural, economic, and social conditions of Latinos in Stanislaus County— has set this year’s goal at 1,300 total donations, 250-300 of which will be served those in Turlock who have been determined to be in need.

“We’re working very closely with the school sites,” Perez said. “They work closely with students and with families, so they’re pre-selecting the families.”

Those interested in helping are encouraged to donate backpacks and school supplies such as pencils, erasers, rulers, and binders at designated drop-off locations. Monetary donations are also being accepted.

“We want to invest in our children at an early age, in elementary. And we want to help our families, especially the families who are struggling financially, we want to help them help their kids,” Perez said.