Operation Homefront today announced its 2011 Back-to-School Brigade program to provide backpacks full of school supplies to local military kids in need.  The local effort is part of the fifth annual nationwide campaign by Operation Homefront to give the children of military families the opportunity to start school with all the supplies they need to be successful.  Donations can be made from July 8 – 25 at Billings Dollar Tree stores or online at OperationHomefront.net.

Items donated for the campaign will include spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebook paper, rulers, colored pencils, calculators, and erasers.  This program saves military families a major education expense, especially for those experiencing financial hardships.

“Military families, especially those in the lower and mid-grade ranks, can see a real money crunch at back-to-school time,” said Jim Knotts, President and CEO of Operation Homefront.  “People in the community who want to say thank you to military families can make a real contribution by going to their local Dollar Tree store and chipping in for school supplies for the children of our men and women in uniform.”

Dollar Tree has 3 stores in the Billings area, including 1327 Main St. Suite 7 and 896 S 29th St. West Suite C.  Store locations can be found at DollarTree.com, or contributions can be made online at OperationHomefront.net.

In 2010 the Back-to-School Brigade program raised over $2 million in school supplies nationwide through its partnership with Dollar Tree. Through the generosity of individual and corporate contributors, Operation Homefront provided 29,000 backpacks to fill with school supplies for children of military service members.

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