Backpacks for kids who need them

My five-year old daughter started Kindergarten this week. She and 19 other three-feet tall children excitedly entered Dave’s Avenue Elementary School in our small town of Los Gatos, each with smiles on their faces and new backpacks on their backs.

In Los Gatos, overwhelmingly, our kids are blessed with wealth and opportunity.

Yet in many ways Silicon Valley is a tale of two Valleys, with pockets of poverty in too many neighborhoods and too many schools.

We can help. This week, the Leadership Group hosted U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein at Marvell Semiconductor, with more than 400 Valley leaders.

With only 72 hours notice, we encouraged our guests to each bring a backpack – filled with school supplies – for kids less fortunate than our own. More than 100 people brought backpacks with them.

200 kids at Rocket Ship elementary schools now have new school supplies as they start the new year. But there are 1,400 kids at Rocket Ship’s three San Jose campuses, with nine of every ten children qualifying for the Federal Government’s “Free and Reduced Lunch Program.” You can help. As our kids return to school, contact me if you can help to place a backpack on a young student’s back.