The Locations Foundation is collecting donations for its annual "Backpack to School," event, when it distributes more than 700 backpacks filled with school supplies to children in homeless shelters.

"While it may seem like just a small gift, providing a brand-new backpack filled with school supplies is really a huge gesture that can help to steer these children onto a path to a brighter future," said Mary Scott Lau, executive director of Women in Need, one of the shelters.

The Locations Foundation, created by real estate firm Prudential Locations, encourages donations of Elmer's Glue sticks, glue bottles, black pens, No. 2 pencils, red pencils, fine-point black markers, folder paper, binders, white erasers, rulers, composition books and 24-packs of Crayola Crayons at designated locations.

According to the 2008 Homeless Service Utilization Report, there are about 200 school-aged children who are homeless on Maui and about 1,000 on O'ahu.

Children make up nearly 32 percent of the homeless population living in shelters throughout the state, about half of whom are under age 5.

"The foundation realizes that our nation is in a time of great need right now," said James Chan, event co-chair and a Realtor with Prudential Locations. "We, as a community, often focus on the working class, and sometimes forget the children who are the future of Hawai'i. We feel it's important to provide them with the bare essentials to enable them to learn."