2026 Roaring Back-to-School Supply Drive Winners

Children were able to play games and participate in other family-friendly activities, such as face-painting.

Hello PNW Campus Community,

On behalf of the PNW “Roaring Back-to-School” Backpack Giveaway Committee, I’d like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this year’s events on our Hammond and Westville campuses such a tremendous success.

We are incredibly proud to continue this tradition and to have the opportunity to serve our communities in such a meaningful and much-needed way. This year, together, we served more than 1,000 families, providing backpacks, school supplies, snacks, valuable resources and information, and, of course, plenty of PNW school spirit as we celebrated the start of a new school year.

The success of these events is truly a reflection of the generosity and commitment of our community partners, whose donations help us provide essential school supplies and resources to local families. It is also a reflection of the incredible support we receive from our PNW colleges, departments and student organizations, whose contributions of time, resources and school supplies help bring these events to life.

It takes a campus and a community coming together to make an impact like this, and we are so grateful to everyone who played a part. Thank you for believing in this initiative and for helping us show our students, families and neighbors that PNW is here for our community.

2026 Roaring Back-to-School Supply Drive Winners

We are also excited to announce the winners of this year’s Roaring Back-to-School Supply Drive and the recipient of the Golden Backpack Award!

There are two award categories: PNW colleges and departments compete for the Golden Backpack Award, while student organizations compete for the opportunity to be one of the top three winners and earn prize money for their organization.

Congratulations to our 2026 winners:

PNW College/Department Winner – Golden Backpack Award

• College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (CHESS) – 867 points

Student Organization Winners

• First Place: Indian Student Union – 3,668 points
• Second Place: Zeta Phi Beta – 1,714 points
• Third Place: Student Life Activities Board – 724 points

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Please stop by Lawshe 232 to receive your awards.

To everyone who donated supplies, made a financial contribution, volunteered your time, helped organize an event, encouraged others to participate or simply shared your PNW support with our community – thank you. Every backpack provided, every supply donated and every family served represents the collective generosity of the PNW family and our community partners.

We are grateful to have such a caring and committed community behind this initiative, and we look forward to continuing to grow it together.

With sincere gratitude,

The PNW “Roaring Back-to-School” Backpack Giveaway Committee