3rd anual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway 2026

5,000 Students, One Powerful Community: The 3rd Annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway

From a small neighborhood effort to a Rose Bowl tradition, the Dena Community Backpack Giveaway continues to show what happens when a community comes together.

On Sunday, August 2, 2026, the Rose Bowl Stadium became a place of celebration, connection, and community care as Neighborhood Survants and its incredible partners welcomed students and families to the 3rd Annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway.

This year, 5,000 students were supported with backpacks, school supplies, resources, and a day designed to help them begin the school year feeling confident, prepared, and supported.

But the number only tells part of the story.

It Started With a Few Hundred Students

The story of this giveaway began long before it reached the Rose Bowl.

In 2019, Neighborhood Survants officially launched, building on work that had already been happening in the community. The first backpack giveaway served a few hundred students at Jackie Robinson Park.

The mission was simple: make sure children had what they needed to start school with confidence and make sure families knew their community was there for them.

Then COVID-19 changed everything.

Rather than stop serving families, the giveaway adapted into a drive-thru model. The format changed, but the mission did not.

Year after year, the community continued to show up.

What began as a small neighborhood effort grew into an event capable of serving thousands of students at one of the most recognizable venues in Southern California.

From Jackie Robinson Park to the Rose Bowl

The 2026 giveaway marked the third annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway at the Rose Bowl Stadium.

Hosted by the Rose Bowl Stadium and the Rose Bowl Institute in partnership with Neighborhood Survants, Pasadena Educational Foundation, and Project Passion, the event brought together community organizations, businesses, volunteers, donors, educators, and families from throughout Pasadena, Altadena, and surrounding communities.

The event offered more than backpacks.

Families connected with community resources, explored activities and interactive experiences, and came together inside one of the country's most historic sports venues.

The goal was never simply to distribute supplies.

It was to create an experience that reminded families that they are seen, valued, and supported.

5,000 Students Served

This year, that mission reached 5,000 students.

Five thousand students who will walk into classrooms carrying new supplies.

Five thousand young people who were reminded that their community believes in them.

And thousands of families who experienced the power of people coming together to help one another.

The growth is significant. Public reporting from the previous year's event documented more than 2,500 backpacks distributed, while organizers entered 2026 hoping to expand the impact even further. This year's final result—5,000 students supported—represents a tremendous milestone for the event and for the community behind it.

A Community Effort From Start to Finish

An event of this size does not happen because of one organization.

It happens because people say yes.

Yes to donating.

Yes to volunteering.

Yes to becoming a sponsor.

Yes to sharing resources.

Yes to opening doors.

Yes to showing up.

We are incredibly grateful to every sponsor, donor, community organization, business, school, elected official, volunteer, and individual who helped make this year's giveaway possible.

Our Event Partners

Rose Bowl StadiumRose Bowl InstituteNeighborhood SurvantsPasadena Educational FoundationProject Passion

We are also grateful for the continued support of the organizations and community leaders who have helped build the foundation of this event over the years, including Baby2Baby, Foot Locker, Staples, the Los Angeles Chargers' Cameron Dicker, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, and Councilmember Tyron Hampton.

Their support reflects something important: when organizations with different resources and missions come together around children and families, the impact becomes much greater than any one organization could create alone.

To Our Vendors & Community Resource Partners

The Community Connection Fair brought organizations and service providers together so families could connect with resources beyond the backpack itself.

To every organization that hosted a table, shared information, connected with families, offered resources, or simply spent the day showing up for the community:

Thank you.

Your presence helped make this more than a giveaway. You helped create a space where families could discover resources, make connections, and feel supported.

To Our Volunteers: This Would Not Happen Without You

Before families arrived, volunteers were already working.

Backpacks had to be organized.

Supplies had to be prepared.

Spaces had to be set up.

Families had to be welcomed.

Lines had to be guided.

Resources had to be shared.

And at the end of the day, everything had to be packed back up.

Hundreds of moments of service came together to create one unforgettable day.

To every volunteer who gave their time, energy, patience, and heart:

We see you. We appreciate you. And we thank you.

You are the heartbeat of this event.

More Than Backpacks

For Michelle White and the Neighborhood Survants team, this work has never been about backpacks alone.

It is about investment.

It is about dignity.

It is about confidence.

It is about reminding children that their community believes they can succeed.

And for families—especially those who have experienced hardship and loss—the message is simple:

You are not alone.

The Dena Community Backpack Giveaway is one small way of putting that belief into action.

A Special Year for Service

This year also carries special meaning as we celebrate 13 years of service for Neighborhood Survants founder Michelle White.

Thirteen years of showing up.

Thirteen years of building partnerships.

Thirteen years of believing that community care can create meaningful change.

And the backpack giveaway is one chapter in that much larger story.

This Is Only the Beginning

Five thousand students served is something worth celebrating.

But we also see it as a starting point.

There are still more students to reach.

More families to support.

More partnerships to build.

More backpacks to provide.

More community events to create.

And more opportunities to show what is possible when we choose to serve one another.

What started with a few hundred students at Jackie Robinson Park has grown into a community movement at the Rose Bowl.

The location changed.

The numbers grew.

The partnerships expanded.

But the why stayed the same.

Every child deserves to start the school year feeling confident, prepared, and supported.

To everyone who helped make the 3rd Annual Dena Community Backpack Giveaway possible:

Thank you for believing in our children.Thank you for believing in our community.Thank you for showing up.

Here's to the next chapter.

Many more students.Many more partnerships.Many more community moments.Many more years of service.

❤️ Neighborhood Survants