As the new school year approaches, recent graduates from Allen are helping make back-to-school shopping a little less stressful for some North Texas families through a nonprofit they launched while still in high school.
Pathway Packs, founded two years ago by twin brothers Amalan Sivalogan and Darshan Sivalogan, along with their friend Cole Dolton, donates backpacks filled with school supplies to students at Title I schools in low-income communities across North Texas.
Each backpack includes paper, pencils and other classroom essentials — along with a note of encouragement for the student receiving it.
“Inside you’ll find supplies to help you learn because the world needs your light,” Amalan Sivalogan read from a note included in a backpack.
The founders said the mission is about more than providing school supplies.
“So we all believe every student deserves an equal chance and equal start,” Amalan Sivalogan said.
The idea for Pathway Packs grew out of the founders’ own memories of preparing for a new school year as elementary school students.
“It was like a fresh start for that year for us, and we wanted to attack that year with our best and give it our best and that’s why we thought of this idea,” Darshan Sivalogan said.
The organization hopes every backpack helps students feel valued and confident as they begin the school year.
“Just giving them a sense of you matter — your confidence matters — you’re going to do good in your life,” Darshan Sivalogan said.
As the founders prepare to attend the University of Texas at Austin this fall, they have built a pipeline of high school student volunteers to keep the nonprofit operating while they are away. They also plan to expand Pathway Packs to reach even more students.
“We make sure to tell them that there are students just like us that are doing stuff like this, and we want to serve as an inspiration to them to do things like that in the future,” Darshan Sivalogan said.
For the founders, a backpack represents more than a collection of school supplies. They hope it serves as the first step toward a brighter future for every student who receives one.
“We’re hoping this is their first step, they can go chase their dreams, really do anything,” Amalan Sivalogan said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.