Allen nonprofit Pathway Packs prepares 1,000 backpack giveaway for schools

A student-built Allen nonprofit is turning a $15 backpack sponsorship into a summer delivery of 1,000 fully stocked packs for Collin County campuses, while its founders head toward the University of Texas at Austin. Pathway Packs has grown from a single-school drive into a network that has reached more than 10,000 students across more than 10 school districts in two years.

The majority of this summer’s backpacks are headed to Title I elementary schools and other high-need campuses in Allen, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Carrollton-Farmers Branch and Mesquite ISDs, with distributions focused on Collin County schools in late July and early August. Title I, Part A is federal supplemental aid for schools serving children from low-income families, and Texas Education Agency guidance says those dollars are meant to strengthen educational programs and help students meet state standards.

Pathway Packs says the effort began as a local backpack drive for one elementary school and has expanded to more than a dozen districts across Texas. The nonprofit, co-founded by Allen High School students Cole Dolton, Darshan Sivalogan and Amalan Sivalogan, says a $15 donation provides one fully stocked backpack for a student in need. Over the past two years, the organization has raised more than $53,000, enough to keep its model moving well beyond a one-time giveaway.

What sets the group apart is how it is planning for succession. With the three founders preparing to leave for college, they spent months recruiting and training incoming Allen High School students in fundraising, logistics, volunteer management, community outreach and school partnerships. That leadership pipeline is meant to keep the nonprofit student-led even as it scales statewide.

Local business support has also helped widen the reach. Chipotle, Staples and Market Street are among the corporate partners backing the drives, and Playa Bowls has sponsored entire campuses through a Sponsor-a-School initiative. Pathway Packs was also named a Partner in Education by the Plano ISD Education Foundation, with Plano ISD Superintendent Dr. Theresa Williams, foundation President Al Ely and board Vice President Nancy Humphrey appearing with the founders.

For Allen families and schools, the impact is tangible: backpacks in students’ hands before the school year starts, pressure lifted from households and a homegrown service project that now operates like a durable community institution.