Keesler Federal Donates Backpacks and School Supplies to Gulf Coast Kindergarteners

Gulf Coast area kindergarteners will start the 2023-24 school year off with needed school supplies thanks to Keesler Federal Credit Union.

The not-for-profit financial cooperative once again is sponsoring Backpacks for Bright Futures, donating backpacks and needed school supplies to kindergarten students. The credit union distributed backpacks and supplies today to 16 area school districts across six counties.

Keesler Federal began the program in 2019 and now five years later it has provided backpacks and supplies to more than 50,000 public school kindergarteners (including this year’s distribution).

School Districts receiving supplies include: Bay St. Louis-Waveland, Biloxi, George County, Gulfport, Hancock County, Harrison County, Jackson County, Long Beach, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula-Gautier, Pass Christian, Pearl River County, Picayune, Poplarville, and Stone County. Each district will determine when to distribute supplies to students.

Keesler Federal team members helped load thousands of boxes into vehicles. The supplies include a clear plastic backpack filled with blunt scissors, markers, crayons, tissues, construction paper, pencils, pocket folders, highlighters, glue sticks, and erasers.

“Purchasing school supplies can be a burden on family budgets,” said Andy Swoger, Keesler Federal President and CEO. “We are hopeful that this effort will benefit families as well as helping kindergarteners get off to a successful start in school.

“We have heard from educators and parents over the last four years about the difference this program makes, and that makes it worthwhile to us. Keesler Federal strongly believes in supporting the communities we serve, and Backpacks for Bright Futures certainly is one of our most important giveback programs.”

The program has been so successful that Keesler Federal last year expanded Backpacks for Bright Futures into other markets. Those areas include Jackson (Jackson Public Schools, Canton, Clinton, Hinds County and Pearl), Hattiesburg (Hattiesburg, Petal, Forrest County and Lamar County), and Jefferson Parish Schools in Louisiana.

The expansion more than doubled Keesler Federal’s Backpacks for Bright Futures program, with supplies now distributed throughout 25 school districts.

About Keesler Federal Credit Union
Established in 1947, Keesler Federal is a dynamic, stable, financially strong credit union dedicated to building a better community, one member, one relationship, one financial solution at a time. The not-for-profit financial cooperative is owned by its more than 300,000 members worldwide and has 40 locations throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jackson, Hattiesburg, Mobile, and greater New Orleans markets and the UK. Keesler Federal proudly serves the financial needs of people from all walks of life, and membership is widely available to thousands who live, work, worship, or attend school in these areas.