Veronica Hilghman, an administrative assistant in Montgomery County’s Office of Children and Youth, showcases a backpack on Aug. 18, 2025 that will go to a Montgomery County resident through the annual Back-to-School Drive. (Rachel Ravina – MediaNews Group)
Stacks of school supplies ready to be distributed have filled a two-room office inside the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services in Norristown.
Piles of backpacks, binders, notebooks, crayons, and folders are situated just waiting to go to someone who needs them. As schools across Montgomery County welcome students back, Veronica Hilghman, an administrative assistant with the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, is working to make sure they have the right tools.
“I remember how much I loved getting my back-to-school stuff together, and getting it ready, and I feel like it’s important that a child goes in and feels like they’re ready,” Hilghman told MediaNews Group.
The annual Back-to-School Drive has become a tradition in county social services over the past two decades. Hilghman said it originated with a donation of between 50 and 100 backpacks to the county’s Office of Children and Youth.
“Now I do it for all of HHS, and it’s just expanded and grown and gotten bigger, and it’s wonderful,” she said.
Last year’s drive amassed 11,000 items for more than 100 people.
“Montgomery County is home to some of the most generous, nicest, kindest people that just want to help, and it’s an amazing thing to see every day,” she said.
Since launching the 2025 drive in July, contributions have ranged from a single person donating a backpack to a law firm dropping off a cart of supplies to a larger company facilitating a bulk donation. The drive also has an online component, with an Amazon wish list available for those wishing to help virtually.
The school supplies will go to Health and Human Services clients across the county and the backpacks are personalized to each individual’s needs. While notebooks, pens and pencils are standard items, Hilghman anticipated folders were the most needed items. Hilghman added that some ask for headphones and small whiteboards with Expo markers and erasers. Teachers also request disinfectant wipes, paper towels and tissues.
“When you start the first day of school you don’t want to go in with nothing,” Hilghman said, stressing how it’s important “that a child doesn’t feel like they’re … singled out.”
“It’s very expensive, and I think it’s important even for [a] child’s self esteem not to have to go through that,” she said.
All Montgomery County residents are eligible to receive items from the Back-to-School Drive, which will continue accepting donations through Friday. Hilghman expects the items will be fully distributed by Labor Day.
In addition to school-aged children, Hilghman noted that some “aging out of foster care” and other low-income parents attending Montgomery County Community College are among recipients. People interested in participating can contact any agency affiliated with the county’s Health and Human Services department. Visit montgomerycountypa.gov/HHSDonations for more information.
“I think that going back to school is expensive any way you look at it,” Hilghman said. “So I think for the families that are struggling to get by, or even the families that aren’t necessarily getting by, which is even worse.”
“I mean you stop and think about my child needs a haircut, they need new clothes, they need new shoes … This loosens up a bit of their budget for them, and if they can’t afford it at all, this means the world for them,” she continued.
