GREENFIELD — Dozens of colorful backpacks lined the floor and table in Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s conference rooms on Tuesday, while a vast array of pens, pencils, notebooks, binders, calculators and just about every other school supply imaginable waited to be packed into the bags.
Volunteers began packing the bounty of new school supplies at 4:30 p.m. at the celebration of the 21st annual Blooming Backpacks drive, a free event that also commemorated the 20th anniversary of Women’s Way, an affinity group of United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region that organizes the drive.
“This year is special,” said Terry Desautels, chair of Women’s Way. “It’s Women’s Way’s 20th year, and Blooming Backpacks has lasted this long. … This was one of [our] first programs.”
Volunteers from various local organizations organize backpacks filled with school supplies by grade at the Blooming Backpacks event held at Baystate Franklin Medical Center on Tuesday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Terry Desautels, chair of Women’s Way, a United Way affinity group, speaks to those attending the Blooming Backpacks event held at Baystate Franklin Medical Center on Tuesday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Jenny Coeur, program director of Women’s Way, a United Way affinity group, speaks to those attending the Blooming Backpacks event held at Baystate Franklin Medical Center on Tuesday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Nonprofit partners of the drive included Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Massachusetts, the Mary Lyon Foundation, Community Action Pioneer Valley’s Family Center and Youth Programs, The Heartwing Center and The United Arc. These organizations are responsible for distributing the school supplies to children in need throughout the region. Other partners included Greenfield Cooperative Bank and its Northampton Cooperative Bank division, Franklin County’s YMCA and Baystate Franklin Medical Center, which focused on collecting and contributing the supplies.
Combining both donated backpacks and leveraging monetary donations that were collected, Blooming Backpacks will provide 337 backpacks to be distributed across Franklin County, a more than 100-backpack increase from last year’s total.
Anne Lyman, a volunteer with Franklin County’s YMCA, said the organization collected donations for the drive for about a month. The YMCA donated 111 backpacks.
“It’s just beautiful,” she said, referring to the volume of backpacks. “The heartful ‘thank yous’ from the community makes it worth it.”
Shortly after 5 p.m., when packing was finished, a series of speeches began. Desautels, speaking first, thanked partners and highlighted the guiding principles of Women’s Way.
“The goal and philosophy was to help women and children in our community,” Desautels said before sharing a quote from Women’s Way founding member Amy Clark: “‘Making a difference in our community with our head, our hearts and our hands.’ And she also added our pocketbooks, but I took that off.”
Desautels also mentioned the contributions from donors, with Baystate contributing 67 backpacks and 21 backpacks being donated from Greenfield/Northampton Cooperative Bank, which set up donation boxes at all 10 branches.
“Donations like this are super important for our families,” said Abbe Bresciano, program supervisor at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Massachusetts, “who don’t necessarily think or know to ask. When they’re offered, it’s kind of a surprise. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, for me?’ ‘Yes, for you.’”
Bresciano thanked the crowd, acknowledging that Big Brothers Big Sisters will be able to help even more children in need with the abundant donations.
“Last year,” said Jenny Coeur, program director of United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region, “Blooming Backpacks ensured that more than 220 students from 14 towns in our community had the tools they needed to start their school year confidently.”
Coeur noted that this drive was not only a gift to local children, but also a much-needed relief that allows families to focus on other necessities like groceries, utilities and housing.
Deb Klein, one of five founding members of Women’s Way, has made sure to attend the celebration of Blooming Backpacks since the drive’s inception.
“It’s so successful,” Klein said. “We’re so thankful for the organizations that participate. But it’s just as important when individuals give one, two, three backpacks.”
Desautels highlighted the impact that new school supplies can have on children.
“Studies have shown that kids that start on an even par with others,” she said, “bringing new supplies and new backpacks, rather than being handed down for generations from their older siblings, actually do better in school. They start off fresh and eager and learn more. So hopefully this will help a lot of kids.”
To learn more about Blooming Backpacks and Women’s Way, visit uw-fh.org/womensway.