A total of 1,762 low-income Bellevue students will be given backpacks filled with school supplies this year as part of a program by Congregations for Kids.

The project lets the students begin the school year with the same essentials as their peers. The project prepares supplies for students from kindergarten through high school. All the students qualify for the district’s free and reduced-price lunch program.

The program, now in its 16th year, tailors school supplies for specific students. The district prepares the list of students with numbers, genders, grade levels and schools, but never names.

This year, donations came from 30 congregations, three service organizations, one corporation and three grants. Congregations for Kids’ steering committee consists of 15 volunteers from eight Bellevue congregations.

Since beginning in 1996, Congregations for Kids has filled more than 15,280 requests from the district for backpacks and school supplies. That first year, 143 students were helped by 10 Bellevue congregations.

Congregations for Kids is sponsored by the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council.