25,000 Backpacks and Supplies to be Collected for Hurricane Katrina's Youngest Victims

Washington D.C. - based national non-profit organization to step-up relief efforts for children displaced Hurricane Katrina. Heart of America Foundation to spearhead effort to ship twenty-five thousand back packs filled with school supplies, toiletries, toys and books to Houston and other relocation communities next week.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 12, 2005 -- Twenty-five thousand back packs filled with school supplies, toiletries, toys and books for children displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be shipped to Houston and other relocation communities next week through Operation BuddyPack, a project of the Books From the Heart program.

Thousands of children from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region have had their lives shattered by Hurricane Katrina. Children from the Washington, DC metro area want to help. The Heart of America Foundation®, through the Books From the Heart program, is sponsoring Operation BuddyPack to help one group of children help another.

The Heart of America Foundation® is asking students and parents who want to help, to put together a BuddyPack: a backpack and accompanying school supplies, toys and books for a child about their own age. A specific list of needed items can be found on The Heart of America Foundation®s website at www.heartofamerica.org.

The nations children are watching this tragedy unfold for children in the Gulf Coast area. Through Operation BuddyPack, local children can make a difference in the life of another child affected by this terrible catastrophe," said Angie Halamandaris, President and co-founder of the Heart of America Foundation®.

Buddy Packs can be dropped off at schools that are participating in this project in the Washington Metro area or at the Heart of America Foundation®s headquarters located at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. The Heart of America will be making pick-ups for donors that have collected 25 or more backpacks. The first shipment is scheduled to go out on September 14th. The Heart of America Foundation® is coordinating this project with Houston Independent School District and Communities In Schools in the Houston area.

The Heart of America Foundation® is a national non-profit organization founded in 1997 to help children learn to read, succeed and make a difference. The Heart of America Foundation® has touched the lives of more than 550,000 children, involved some 92,000 young adults in service, and provided books valued in excess of $3.5 million for children in poverty and at risk.

The Heart of America Foundation, 401 F Street, NW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 20001

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