ORLANDO, Fla. — As many kids around Central Florida savor the last moments of summer break, over at Harbor House of Central Florida they are jumpstarting their Back-to-School Supply Drive.

What You Need To Know

  • Nonprofit, Harbor House of Central Florida, is accepting new school supplies this week for their annual Back-to-School Drive

  • Folks can drop off any donations at the downtown site off Colonial Drive and Summerlin Avenue until Aug. 12

  • All donations will go towards clients at Harbor House

Harbor House not only takes care of women in domestic violence situations, but they also take care of kids within their children’s program.

All the donations will help those within the program.

Shuffling through school supplies, it fills Harbor House CEO, Michelle Sperzel’s heart with love.

“It’s not just about our need, it’s about the fact that we’re going to help create memories for a lot of the different families,” said Sperzel.

She sees the kids within Harbor House’s Children’s Program almost every day. Not just helping kids inside, but outside the emergency shelter.

“The kids’ program is super important to me because that’s where we break the cycle when it comes to domestic violence,” said Sperzel.

This week kicks off Harbor House’s Back-to-School Drive, where they are accepting new classroom supplies like backpacks, notebooks and even fun erasers. The goal is making this back-to-school season less stressful for the Harbor House families.

“A lot of times when people think about Harbor House, they only think adults, they only think adult women," said Sperzel. "They really don’t think about the fact that at any given date, half of who we have living in our emergency shelter with us are kids. This is a program we started several years ago that really highlights we don’t just help adults. We help kids, we help pets, and we are more than a shelter. We have programs here on campus and throughout the community."

Sperzel, with Harbor House, says people can drop of donations at their downtown site off of Colonial Drive.

The organization will officially stop the back-to-school drive when school is back in session Aug. 12.

More details can be found in the Facebook post below: