Basketball player Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers and nonprofit Baby2Baby teamed up to provide 1 million backpacks for Southern California students. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Clippers)

On Aug. 20, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, the L.A. Clippers Foundation and nonprofit community partner Baby2Baby announced a gift of 1 million backpacks intended to reduce stress on low-income families headed back to school across Southern California.

Every single student in the Los Angeles Unified, Moreno Valley Unified and Inglewood Unified school districts will receive a new backpack to start the school year. Leonard made the announcement at Cloverdale Elementary School in his hometown of Moreno Valley. Afterwards, he was joined by  Baby2Baby co-presidents Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein and Baby2Baby ambassadors Zooey Deschanel, Busy Philipps and Nicole Richie at 107th Street Elementary School in Watts to distribute backpacks in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“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,” Leonard said.

In LAUSD alone last year, 80% of K-12 students were eligible for free or reduced lunch, meaning they come from a low-income family, are homeless or are in the foster program. This gift is the largest in LAUSD history, impacting every single student. It will allow hundreds of thousands of families to take the money they would spend on a backpack and use it instead on essential items like food, rent, utilities and more, which can make a major difference in a family’s livelihood.

For information, visit clippers.com or baby2baby.org.