ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Twenty-five-thousand students in Orange and Osceola Counties will have the supplies they need to start school this fall thanks to volunteers with A Gift for Teaching.

The nonprofit organization held its annual Great Big Backpack Build Wednesday morning inside the Orange County Convention Center, where about 500 volunteers from nearly 30 local companies and organizations were on hand to stuff the thousands of backpacks full of notebooks, pencils, erasers and more.

Jane Thompson, the president of A Gift For Teaching, says more than 70% of public schools in Central Florida are considered high-need and thousands of students arrive at school empty-handed every year.

“I like to think about the image of one child among 25,000 and maybe was worried about showing up to school that first day and realizing they didn’t have any school supplies and then being given a backpack and realizing that somebody built this backpack for me and holding their head up just a little bit higher and ready to start the year off great,” Thompson said.

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The 25,000 backpacks will be sent to about 150 schools throughout Orange and Osceola counties.

Learn more about A Gift for Teaching by visiting its website.