Back-to-School
From backpack drives to Clap Ins, Comerica Bank is supporting local communities as school ramps back up for 2025-26 year.
DETROIT — With metro Detroit students back in school, Comerica has been serving students throughout the area to assist them as they returned this year.
Thus far, Comerica has served approximately 10,000 students with its back-to-school engagements.
This year, Comerica volunteers assisted with United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s 2025 Backpacks Program in to support students in Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
With the help of Comerica Cares volunteers and many others who assisted, the program assembled nearly 7,000 back packs for local students.
According to the United Way, back-to-school supply costs are up nearly 8% this year, pencil prices are up 68% and notebook prices have doubled.
“When you can’t focus because of school supplies, children miss out on the first day of school,” told Jocelyn Howard, board member at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, via UnitedWaySEM.org. “Essentially, parents try to decide what’s more important, and those decisions are often loaded on the backs of kids, so this distribution is critical for them to start the school year right off the bat.”
In addition to donating backpacks to deserving children, this year, the United Way for Southeastern Michigan created 52 classroom kits for teachers and donated bulk school supplies.
“This was our fifth year doing this, but it was also our largest. It was also the first time it was fully funded through sponsorships and individual gifts, which is a considerable achievement for a nonprofit,” explains Kristen Cibulskis, Director, Engagement of The United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
With concerns about funding and resources, the United Way has been stepping up and becoming more resourceful to help students get back to the classroom with fewer barriers to learning.
“It been increasingly complex for any nonprofit to effectively maximize its resources and funding,” said Cibulskis. “So, the fact that we not only raised enough sponsorship funds to fund our backpack program fully, but also expand it from previous years was really not something we expected, and something we were just so ecstatic about.”
In 2024, United Way for Southeastern Michigan distributed 4,300 backpacks. This year, they increased that total by 60% along with the classroom kits and additional bulk school supplies.
The achieve this, 13 corporate partners and over 480 hours of volunteer service helped make this possible, according to the United Way, which includes support and assistance from Comerica.
“Comerica is proud to be a long-time partner of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan,” says LaToya Rowell, National Communities Affairs Manager. “Together as A United Force For Good we seek to uplift our communities. By supporting United Way programming like their Backpack Initiative, we are able to uphold our commitment to helping the next generation thrive.”
Comerica’s strive to be A Force For Good in the community is both appreciated and welcomed by the United Way.
“Comerica is a long-time supporter of the United Way in general. They support us in multiple ways–whether it’s through monetary support or representing on our board or our committees, or volunteering,” says Cibulskis. “This year, not only did we have a group of Comerica volunteers come out to assist us with distributing backpacks to our partners, but we also received a sponsorship from Comerica, allowing us to purchase supplies.”
The backpack packing event took place on Aug. 12 at Warren Lincoln High School and distribution took place the following day.
This support goes along way, and the impact that it makes on families goes along way to help and uplift others, especially this time of year when the new school year begins.
“Back to school costs really are one of the most significant financial burdens that our families and our communities are facing, especially in Southeast Michigan,” Cibulskis adds,
“So being able to take care of that and providing students with the necessary supplies really allows their caregivers and their parents to take that breath, to be able to kind of step back and reallocate those resources to other things that matter, whether that’s you know, food or shelter or clothing or whatever that might be.”
According to Cibulskis, this initiative does fill gaps of need for several communities as the United Way is reaching 25 different partners, including schools, school districts, and community organizations that serve youth.
Cibulskis continues to explain that not only has the United Way expanded the number of students impacted through traditional relationship with schools, but they are going beyond that.
“We continued to support our school districts and schools, but we also supported many of our community partners who work directly with youth as well.”
The back-to-school support did not just stop with the United Way. Colleagues at Comerica’s Auburn Hills Operations Center and Great Lakes Campus donated brand new backs in support of Methodist Children’s Home Society (MCHS) Family.
MCHS Family of Services provides individualized treatment, care, advocacy, and permanency to children and families impacted by childhood trauma.
Comerica’s relationship with the Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) dates to the late 1970s, and the bank’s support this year of Baby Smoove’s Backpack Giveaway continues to expand that long-time partnership.
To further show its support for local students, Comerica Cares volunteers welcomed back students and educators at Renaissance High School, as part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District “Clap In” program, as they returned for the 2025-2026 school year.
