Young & Established to Host Backpack Drive in Evansville

The new school season will be starting before we know it and with the rising cost of goods and services here at a home and all across the country, some families may be finding themselves in a tough financial situation when it comes time to purchase school supplies for their kids. The Evansville-area youth organization, Young & Established is stepping up to do its part to help kids in the community head back to school with the supplies they need.

Strong Community Partners Stepping Up

We are fortunate to live in a city with strong civil leaders who have a knack for recognizing community needs and who are innovative and resourceful enough to find ways to meet those needs - leaders like Courtney Johnson.

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Meet Young & Established

Young & Established is the brainchild of Founder and Executive Director, Courtney Johnson. Y&E is an amazing organization that operates with a sort of three-fold mission to mentor, develop, and lead the youth in our community.

Young & Established exists for the betterment of the community, primarily through the inspiration and motivation of youth, but additionally by developing and participating in various activities and events focused on addressing today’s challenges.Y&E strives to be a leading organization that actively promotes positive youth empowerment. It is the passionate desire of the Young & Established movement for youth and young adults to realize their self-worth and potential, establish and reach goals, become successful members of their communities, and to fulfill their dreams!

Giving Back in Small Big Ways

For Young & Established, part of giving back to the community means making sure the area youth have the things they need to succeed - whether that's an after-school snack, a place to wash laundry so they have clean clothes to wear to class, or simply a backpack with pencils and paper to go to school.

Photo by David Pennington on Unsplash

Backpack Drive

On Monday, August 1, 2022, Young & Established will host its annual backpack drive, offering school-aged children in the community free backpacks filled with their back-to-school basics. There is no qualification process required and any student or family is welcome to stop by that day between 4 pm and 6 pm central standard time to pick one up. The backpacks will be given away on a first-come-first-serve basis but they anticipate giving out between 600-700 backpacks.

Salon Services

Early in the day on August 1st, students will be able to take advantage of salon services like haircuts, nail painting, etc. Those services will be provided to students free of charge between the hours of 8 am and 11 am. Both the salon services and the backpack drive will be taking place at the Young & Established youth center located at 1308 Vann Avenue in Evansville.

How You Can Help

If you would like to contribute to the Backpack Drive, you can drop your backpack or school supply donations off at the youth center. You can also make a monetary donation to Young & Established by visiting their website.

Books that Have Recently Been Challenged in School Systems Across the US

Across the country, legislators and school administrators are seeing a spike in efforts to prohibit certain materials from being available in libraries. As a result, books that explore topics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and other social issues are being targeted. The American Library Association received over 330 reports in the last year alone, containing multiple books that are being challenged all over the U.S.

Check out the following gallery to see some of the books that are currently in hot seats across the country.

Click on the below links to read an additional synopsis of each book. *As Amazon associates we earn on qualifying purchases.

Source: Young & Established to Host Back Pack Drive in Evansville August 1, 2022