Operation Backpack tops last year's totals with 358 backpacks

Hundreds of children across Hamilton County are heading into the school year with new backpacks and supplies after the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and Volunteers of America wrapped up their second annual Operation Backpack drive on Aug. 10.

The five-week campaign collected 358 backpacks and 97 boxes of school supplies from donors at library branches throughout the county, according to a CHPL blog post published Tuesday, Aug. 18. That topped last year's haul of 320 backpacks and 87 boxes.

The timing mattered locally. Sycamore Community Schools opened its doors Friday, Aug. 14, just days after the drive closed.

"Because of the generosity of our community, hundreds of local children are starting the school year with the supplies they need," wrote Mandi Beecroft, Mariemont Branch manager for CHPL, in the library's Tuesday, Aug. 18 blog post.

Of the total collected, 267 backpacks and 72 boxes of supplies will go out through library locations and back-to-school events. The remaining 105 backpacks and 21 boxes head to Volunteers of America for distribution through partners including the Boys & Girls Club.

The Blue Ash Branch Library at 4911 Cooper Road is part of CHPL's Central Region, a 10-branch cluster that includes Deer Park, Sharonville and Reading among others. Blue Ash was not among the 10 branches listed as collection sites for the drive, though Central Region locations may receive supplies for distribution.

A growing national effort

Operation Backpack launched in New York City in 2003 as a Volunteers of America initiative targeting children experiencing homelessness and poverty. Nationally, VOA distributed 59,000 backpacks in 2025. Cincinnati participates alongside Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton.

According to the CHPL/VOA program description, families face an average cost of $890 per child for school supplies, a figure that pushes many households to choose between basic expenses and classroom needs.

The library system's back-to-school programming also included Camp Read, which served 32,628 children this summer.