Each year, GSF Foundation’s Back (Pack) to School Initiative helps thousands of children start the school year on the right track. Now in its eleventh year, the program provides backpacks filled with essential school supplies to first-grade students in U.S. communities where associates from Golden State Foods (GSF) and its family of companies work and live.
Volunteers from local, associate-led Foundation committees across the United States not only assist in filling the backpacks, but also deliver them directly to the students at neighboring schools. In 2019, nearly 90 percent of local Foundation committees participated, resulting in 10,000 kids receiving backpacks and school supplies.
“We believe that kids need to start off on the right foot with the right tools for both school and life,” said Tess McAnena, Executive Director of the GSF Foundation. “When our associates volunteer for Back (Pack) to School, they get to roll up their sleeves and see the kids’ reactions firsthand.”
Each year, administrators and educators from local schools help select eligible children, based upon individual circumstances and financial need, to receive assistance through the Back(pack) to School program. The GSF Foundation believes that every child deserves to begin their academic career with the tools necessary to become an engaged and successful student.
Through personal involvement and contributions, GSF associates volunteer with the GSF Foundation to improve the quality of life of children and families in need. Across the United States, the GSF Foundation supports more than 600 children’s charities and elementary schools. Learn more at