The Great Big Backpack Build returned once again to the Orange County Convention Center in 2025 to kickoff A Gift for Teaching’s annual Ready for Back-to-School summer campaign.

This year, the event reached an extraordinary new milestone: 25,000 backpacks hand-packed with essential school supplies in just over one hour.

Energized by teamwork and compassion, 36 corporate teams and more than 500 volunteers came together with a shared mission: to provide students in Central Florida with the tools they need to feel excited and prepared to learn. The room was filled with high spirits as backpack after backpack was filled with care and the belief that every child deserves a strong foundation to the next school year starting from the very first day.

These backpacks will soon make their way into the hands of students at more than 140 public schools across Orange and Osceola counties — schools where the need is greatest, and where these supplies will make an immediate and lasting impact.

This incredible achievement was made possible through the generosity of community partners, from funding the supplies to donating event production services. More than $350,000 was contributed in-kind, including venue space and logistical support. Because of these vital partnerships, every additional dollar raised this summer can go even further to provide more resources for local classrooms, creating a ripple effect of support that lasts well beyond this one-day event.

But this work is far from over.

Orange County Public Schools is the 8th largest school district in the United States, and these stuffed backpacks will only support a little more than 10% of students. More than 70% of public schools in Central Florida are considered high-need, which means thousands of students still face the possibility of starting the next school year without the tools they need to succeed.

Together, we can rework that math.

Join A Gift for Teaching in the next phase of the Ready for Back-to-School summer campaign: Supply Drive for Success. With your help, we can keep this momentum going and ensure even more local students walk into their classroom this fall feeling excited, confident, and ready to learn.

(View more event photos here)

A special thanks to these hardworking teams for building backpacks for brighter futures: