Every summer Passaic County CASA holds a Back To School Backpack and Supplies Drive to collect new backpacks and school supplies such as pens, pencils, lunchboxes, folders, notebooks and other essentials for children in foster care to start their first day back to school with.

This year Jayden Perez age 14 has pitched in to make sure no child goes without, and has already collected dozens of backpacks and boxes of supplies.

Jayden has been fundraising for different causes for six years. He first started his journey of giving back by collecting thousands of toys, clothes, PJs and tins of animal food to send to people in need in Puerto Rico after seeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. During the Covid19 pandemic, Jayden collected sanitizers and distributed them in his local community.

"I wanted to help CASA this year because I know that kids in foster care don't always have a lot, and having a new backpack to start school with can be a boost of confidence," says Jayden.

Over the years Jayden has built a strong network of supporters, "It feels amazing to be able to help people, I can't describe it," says Jayden, "seeing people happy, getting things that we take for granted, it's humbling."