Scottsdale Community Partners is a nonprofit organization with the mission of developing services for the unmet needs of Scottsdale residents that also co-facilitates several programs with the City of Scottsdale Human Services Division, including the Back to School Program.

The mission of the Back to School Program is to develop a broad partnership of city, school, nonprofit, civic, faith and business organizations and bring them together to assist and support Scottsdale-based, kindergarten through 12th grade, income-eligible students with essential school supplies and so much more.

The City of Scottsdale’s Back to School drive-thru event was held on July 21 at the Granite Reef Senior Center from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

This year, 812 students and 374 families participated in the 2021 Back to School distribution event. 

K-12 students enrolled in the program received back-to-school essentials from Scottsdale Community Partners, including backpacks, school supplies, underwear garments, socks and a $25 Walmart gift card to purchase clothes.

The students also received a voucher for a pair of Skechers provided by Police Officers of Scottsdale Association, a dental “smile bag” from Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health and a library book to keep from Scottsdale libraries. 

Each family also received a week’s worth of groceries from Scottsdale Unified School District Nutrition Services and all children ages 0 to 5 received a goodie bag with books and crayons from First Things First.

The Scottsdale Community Partners fundraiser for the Back to School Program raised a total of $29,015 from a combination of individual online donations and sponsor support from The Hartford, SUSD Foundation, Scottsdale Sunrise Rotary, the Saguaro Hotel Scottsdale, Core Construction, Scottsdale Charros, Talking Stick Resort and BHHS Legacy Foundation.