Student-run nonprofit, started at UGA in 2015
Backpacks of food, clothes, and hygiene supplies, handed to people in person.
Students and volunteers pack them. More than 18,000 have gone out since 2015.
$25 packs one backpack.
- 18,000+ backpacks delivered since 2015
- $62,692 in supplies distributed in 2023 Source: GuideStar
- 1,500+ backpacks to pack at Homeless Heroes Day 2026
- $25 fills one backpack with essentials
How it works
One backpack, four steps.
Pack
Volunteers fill each bag with food, hygiene items, warm clothes, and a handwritten note.
Deliver
We hand bags to people directly, not to anonymous drop piles, whenever we can.
Connect
We introduce people to local homeless-service providers who can help next.
Grow
Student chapters and company packing days carry the work to more cities.
Programs
Three ways the bags get packed.
Distributions
Our core work: pack bags, hand them out, and point people to local services.
How we deliver
Corporate packing
Your team packs in your office in 60 to 90 minutes. We bring everything.
Book a packing
Student chapters
College chapters run local distributions with support from the national team.
Find a chapter9th annual Homeless Heroes Day
1,500+ backpacks in one morning.
- Friday, November 20, 2026
- Westside Warehouse, Atlanta
- Check-in at 9:00 AM
Company teams pack together, then deliver the bags with community partners the same day.
Chapters
Students run this, campus by campus.
Chapters pack and deliver in their own cities. The national team helps fund and set up their distributions.
Donate
Help fill a backpack with essentials.
Food, hygiene supplies, warm clothes, and a note from the students who packed it.
The Backpack Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 47-4511944