NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard Surprises Every Student in Los Angeles School Districts With Over 1 Million Backpacks

Children all across the country are returning to school this month, and many are struggling to find the basic necessities. Things like notebooks, pencils, rulers, and paper may be taken for granted on a daily basis, but there are simply some children that can’t afford these necessary items for the school year.

Fortunately for a considerable number of children in California, one NBA superstar is making an effort to ensure that they won’t be left behind during the school year. Tuesday, NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard visited an elementary school in Los Angeles to tell the children that he would be donating backpacks to every student in the Moreno Valley Unified, Inglewood Unified, and Los Angeles Unified school districts.

With help from the Los Angeles Clippers and the organization Baby2Baby, Leonard will be gifting backpacks of supplies to more than 1 million children.

“My goal this year is to make a meaningful contribution both on and off the court. This felt like the right way to get started. It was important to me to make this announcement in my hometown of Moreno Valley at my former Elementary School, but the benefits this program will have across all of Los Angeles makes today even more special,” Leonard said, according to NBA.com.

The Clippers star was joined after the event by Baby2Baby Ambassadors Zooey Deschanel, Nicole Richie, and Busy Phillips. The group headed down to 107th Street Elementary School in Watts to pass out backpacks to children in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, 80 percent of K-12 students were eligible for free or reduced lunch, which means that they come from a low-income family, are homeless, or are in the foster program. With Leonard, the Clippers Foundation, and Baby2Baby providing the backpacks and school supplies, they are making a massive impact on the lives of these children and their families.

Instead of having to scrape together money for the school supplies, the families can take the money that they would have spent on backpacks and use it for rent, food, utilities, or other necessary purchases. More than 600,000 LAUSD students began the school year on Tuesday, and Leonard’s donation came at the perfect time to start the year on a positive note.