Skip to main content
Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Local organization provides backpacks, school supplies to meet student needs

Janice Dave, left, and Natasha Upshaw hand out backpacks to students at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Volunteers The Back to School community outreach collaborative, The Nehemiah Project, and The Bethlehem Center delivered hundreds of backpacks to the elementary school and other Title I schools.
Janice Dave, left, and Natasha Upshaw hand out backpacks to students at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Volunteers The Back to School community outreach collaborative, The Nehemiah Project, and The Bethlehem Center delivered hundreds of backpacks to the elementary school and other Title I schools. Janice Dave, left, and Natasha Upshaw hand out backpacks to students at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Volunteers The Back to School community outreach collaborative, The Nehemiah Project, and The Bethlehem Center delivered hundreds of backpacks to the elementary school and other Title I schools.

By Meghan Mangrum 5 min read

Pencils, crayons, glue sticks, loose-leaf paper, rulers – these are some of the supplies that can help a student have a successful school year. But expensive school supplies are out of reach for some families.

More than 6,500 kids in Hamilton County’s highest-needs schools got a boost Tuesday when volunteers from the Nehemiah Project delivered thousands of backpacks to 12 schools, including Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy.

SCHOOLS THAT RECEIVED BACKPACK DONATIONS

Bess T. ShepherdBarger ElementaryCalvin Donaldson Environmental Science AcademyClifton Hills ElementaryEast Lake ElementaryEastside ElementaryHardy ElementaryHillcrest ElementaryHixson ElementaryOrchard Knob ElementarySpring Creek ElementaryWoodmore Elementary

“We are a community organization that brings school supplies to Title 1 schools in Hamilton County,” said Kelley Andrews, the project coordinator. “A lot of the students are low income and do not have the supplies they need.”

The back-to-school initiative has been operating for almost two decades. Originally created by the Front Porch Alliance in 1999, it is now sponsored by the Bethlehem Center, a local faith-based nonprofit that runs after-school, leadership and spiritual education programs.