By Karen Guin

Several University of Central Florida students studying to become social workers will help distribute about 135 backpacks they filled with school supplies for needy children on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Children and their families who signed up for help will be collecting the supplies at Jewish Family Services in Winter Park. Two backpacks will be handed out every 15 minutes.

Adrienne Gordon Cooperman, the emergency services program manager for Jewish Family Services, says the UCF project comes at a critical time.

"This partnership and the students' great work are a welcome relief to many families," Cooperman said. "Many in Central Florida are struggling with the economy, and there's hardly enough to cover basics."

The UCF students are part of a required class that brings together the theory and practice of social work through a service-learning project.

"The students have done an incredible job," said UCF Associate Professor Eileen Abel who led the summer course. "They developed a flyer and got a professional graphic artist to create it for free, held special events to raise money, made individual donor contacts and wrote letters.  The students also solicited hundreds of dollars from various venues."