Going back to school can be exciting for some children, but could be stressful for the little ones who don't have the proper supplies.

"Imagine going to school without a backpack," said Diane Wright, the spiritual social action team leader for Unity Santa Fe, a faith community. "Can you imagine not being able to give kids these basic things?"

"It almost makes me cry," said Nanzy Holtzman, the project manager for Unity Santa Fe.

Holtzman said the faith community tries to do something to help the community every season. This fall, Wright had the idea to put together backpacks for Santa Fe schoolchildren.

Wright, who moved to Santa Fe from Miami, said her Unity faith community in Miami used to collect backpacks for schoolchildren.

"At the huge Unity by the Bay Church, they did the backpack program," Wright explained. She would donate a backpack to that cause, but it wasn't as personal as working on the project in Santa Fe has been. "We've been real pleased with the turnout. We asked people to either go buy a backpack or donate money."

On a Friday before most Santa Fe schools started classes, Holtzman, Wright and volunteers Lori Spillman and Cassidy Spillman, 10, worked to put the finishing touches on more than 30 backpacks for children before they were delivered to the Adelante program, which connects homeless youth to resources in the community. Adelante then distributed the backpacks to children before school started last Monday.

"That represents a classroom of kids," Wright said happily as she looked over the neatly arranged rows of backpacks. "We got more than we hoped."

The backpacks — some of which included the likes of Lightning McQueen and pretty princesses — were stuffed with things from the Santa Fe Public Schools school supply lists for elementary schools. Many included crayons, notebooks, Kleenex, pencils and snacks.

Many people went out, purchased the supplies and put together the backpack they donated. Wright took the money that was donated and put together some backpacks.

"I was amazed how much it cost to but the backpack together," Wright said. She hunted for the cheapest prices on school supplies and found that Smith's was a surprising treasure of deals. "They run $30 a backpack for (kindergarten) through fifth grade."

The ladies from Unity wanted to work with Adelante to be able to reach the homeless children.

"(Adelante) has identified 1,100 children in Santa Fe alone that are 'homeless,' " Wright said, explaining that the term 'homeless' could mean they are living in a home with too many people, or they do not have a permanent home.

Unity Santa Fe has been trying to reach out to the community more in recent years, Holtzman said. Although the congregation has always done things to benefit the community, it decided to "formalize it."

"Unity Santa Fe cares and it's very much a part of what we're doing here," Holtzman said. Recently, the faith community worked to feed the homeless through the Interfaith Leadership Alliance. It also put on the Crop Walk to benefit the Food Depot. "To give is to receive but that isn't the only reason that you give, of course, but it's very, very important to love and take care of others."

"It's nice to talk about good things during Sunday service but we need to make it happen out there," Wright said. "That's where the real spiritual message gets carried."

The community is launching a new program called Shoes4Unity, of which Spillman is in charge. Currently, the community is accepting new or gently used winter shoes and sneakers for kids. Shoes4Unity is a program that Unity communities all over the world have done for several years, Holtzman said, but this is the first year for Unity Santa Fe. Spillman can be reached at 989-4433 to answer questions about shoe donations.

"Unity is an interpeace type of philosophy," Holtzman said. "Our principles are that God is good and that goodness flows through all of us. We have to put feet on that goodness and reach out to our community."