Kroger Backpack Boosters Raises Nearly $300,000 for Cy-Fair ISD and Eight Other School Districts
A few dollars added at the grocery store register may not seem like much. Across thousands of Kroger shoppers, though, those small donations helped build a nearly $300,000 pool of support for students heading back to class.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD joined Kroger Friday morning to mark the end of the 2026 Backpack Boosters campaign, which raised $297,029 for nine participating school districts. The money will help provide school supplies to students whose families may need some extra help covering the cost of back-to-school necessities.
For families in Cypress and across the Greater Houston area, that support can be especially useful at a time of year when expenses tend to pile up quickly. School supply lists arrive alongside costs for clothes, shoes, activity fees and other back-to-school needs, and even basic classroom items can add up when several children are involved.
A School Supply Drive Built Around Everyday Shopping
Kroger’s Backpack Boosters program gives customers a simple way to help while they are already shopping.
During this year’s campaign, customers could purchase a $9.99 school supply kit at participating Kroger stores or make a $2, $5 or $10 donation at the register. The goal for the 2026 campaign was to help equip more than 40,000 children across Texas and Louisiana with essential supplies for the school year.
The idea behind the program is straightforward: gather many small contributions and turn them into something useful for students who might otherwise begin the year without everything on their classroom list.
For CFISD, this is not the first year Backpack Boosters has made a noticeable local impact.
CFISD Has Benefited From the Program Before
In 2024, CFISD was one of eight Greater Houston-area school districts that benefited from a Backpack Boosters campaign that provided a combined $380,000 in school supplies.
That year, CFISD received 2,436 backpacks and 3,835 school supply kits, according to district information shared at the time.
The district has also participated in earlier years. In 2022, CFISD reported receiving $34,500 worth of school suppliesthrough the program.
Taken together, those efforts show how Backpack Boosters has become a recurring source of back-to-school support for local students rather than a one-time donation.
Why Programs Like This Matter
A notebook, pencil bag or set of folders may be inexpensive on its own, but a complete school supply list can become a real expense for a family, particularly when there is more than one child heading back to school.
Having the right supplies also matters once students are in the classroom. Children who arrive with what they need can get started with everyone else instead of worrying about missing basic materials.
That is what makes school supply drives like Backpack Boosters practical. They are not flashy, and the items being collected are ordinary, but they meet a need that comes around every August for families across the community.
The program also gives Kroger customers a direct role in the effort. Instead of the full contribution coming from one large donor, much of the support is generated through hundreds or thousands of small decisions made by shoppers at checkout.
This year, those decisions added up to $297,029.
What Happens Next
The money raised through the 2026 Backpack Boosters campaign will now be divided among the nine participating school districts, including CFISD, to help get school supplies into the hands of students who need them.
For Cypress families, the end of the campaign is a reminder that community support does not always come through a major event or large individual gift. Sometimes it is a school supply kit purchased during a grocery run, or a few extra dollars added to a total at the register.
By the time those contributions reach a student’s desk, they can make the first weeks of school a little easier.
Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more CFISD news, Cypress community updates and local stories affecting students and families.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.
