Operation Homefront offers free backpacks to dependants Published July 31, 2009 By Airman 1st Class Katherine Holt 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs MacDill AFB, Fla. -- Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree have teamed up to help military families get their children ready to go back to school by collecting new school supplies for military dependants grades K-12. The backpacks will come in all sizes and will be filled with age-appropriate school supplies. The school supplies range from spiral notebooks to erasers. To receive the backpacks, servicemembers must register online at www.operationhomefront.net/florida. Once logged on, click on the link above the backpack brigade photo. This link will take you to the registration site. "Backpacks should be available for pick up the first week in August," said Emily Mazza, a representative from Operation Homefront public relations and marketing department. "All persons registered will be notified when the backpacks are ready for pick up." There are five distribution sites to choose from in the Tampa Bay area. Special Operations Command is one of the distribution sites. Servicemembers will be prompted to choose which distribution site is best for them during the registration process. The more than 3,600 Dollar Tree stores around the country collected school supplies from July 5 through July 25 for this project.