Category: Community

The Advocates are delighted to join The Road Home in celebrating the 20th year of The Apple Tree Campaign: a program providing homeless children with back-to-school supplies and, most importantly, the confidence they need to know their self-worth is not determined by where they live.
Housing insecurity is a tragic reality which often makes children feel ostracized from their peers. We want all children in our communities to be able to attend school with confidence. Small acts of kindness, like giving a backpack, will give them a chance to do just that.

What is The Road Home?

The Road Home helps people out of homelessness and back into the welcoming embrace of our community. Equal treatment, compassion, respect, and dignity are the values that guide their work.
They have three shelters in Salt Lake Valley: the South Salt Lake Men’s Resource Center, the Gail Miller Resource Center, and the Midvale Family Resource Center. Each one provides meals, showers, laundry, donated clothing, and a warm place for people to seek solace and sleep. Through its many connections, The Road Home links people with services like job training, mental health treatment, and childcare services.

What is The Apple Tree Campaign?

The Apple Tree Campaign is an annual event helping homeless children get the supplies and clothes they need for a new school year. We want kids staying at The Road Home to enter the first day with a new backpack, fresh clothes, and an air of confidence. In 2023, close to 200 students received hygiene items, clothing, and school supplies.
Throughout all of July, each of The Advocates’ three Utah offices will have a cardboard apple tree with 100 apples. On each fruit is the name, age, size, and material need of one child staying at The Road Home.
The goal is to get each child the following clothing items:

• One durable, high-quality backpack
• Two pairs of pants (jeans or joggers; no shorts, please)
• Two shirts
• One hoodie
• Multi-pack of socks
• Multi-pack of underwear
• One pair of sturdy shoes

Children in 6th grade and up also get a hygiene kit. Each kit is put in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag with the following:

• Cloth masks
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste (travel or small size)
• Dental floss
• Deodorant
• Comb, brush, or foldable brush with mirror on the back
• Unbreakable mirror
• Lip balm
• Individual packs of Kleenex
• Small lotions
• Breath mints
• Hair scrunchies or elastic bands

Three Ways You Can Help

Stop by our offices in American Fork, Ogden, or Murray during the month of July to pluck an apple from the tree, purchase what the child needs, and return it to our office.
If you cannot make it in to our offices, there are still ways to help. Check out the website of the Apple Tree Campaign and donate directly to The Road Home. All donations go directly to purchasing items for the campaign. You can also purchase clothing and supplies directly from their Amazon Wish List. Everything you buy will ship directly to The Road Home.
Together we can equip a child with the supplies and clothing they deserve this upcoming school year. It is a small gesture, but every act of kindness, however small, has the potential to change someone’s life.
Office locations:
Murray: 737 E Winchester St, Salt Lake City, UT 84107
American Fork: 388 W Main St, American Fork, UT 84003
Ogden: 533 26th St #101, Ogden, UT 84401

The Advocates are thrilled to partner with The Road Home resource centers to bring back The Apple Tree Campaign. We are honored to do our part to help those in need in Salt Lake City and its surrounding areas.

What is The Road Home?

The Road Home is a nonprofit social services agency that helps individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake City and along the Wasatch Front. Their mission is to “help people step out of homelessness and back into our community.” 
The Road Home operates three separate shelters in the Salt Lake Valley– the Men’s Resource Center, the Gail Miller Resource Center, and the Midvale Family Resource Center. Their resource centers provide services such as beds, showers, meals, laundry, and donated clothing. They also help provide individuals with connections to services in the community, such as job training, substance use treatment, mental health treatment, childcare services, and more. 

What is the Apple Tree Campaign?

The Apple Tree Campaign is an annual donation drive to help children experiencing homelessness receive the items they need to return to school this fall. The goal of the campaign is to help the children staying at The Road Home return to school with confidence. In 2021, the Apple Tree Campaign helped 200 school-aged children obtain the school supplies, clothing, and hygiene items they needed for back-to-school.
The campaign aims to provide each child with the following clothing items:

• 1 backpack (durable and good quality)
• 2 pairs of pants (jeans or joggers; no shorts please)
• 2 shirts
• 1 hoodie
• Multi-pack of socks
• Multi-pack of underwear
• 1 pair of sturdy shoes 

Additionally, children in grades 6 and up will be provided with a hygiene kit. The kits, put together in gallon-size resealable plastic bags, include the following:

• Cloth masks
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste (travel or small size)
• Dental floss
• Deodorant
• Comb, brush or foldable brush with mirror on back
• Unbreakable mirror
• Lip balm
• Individual packs of Kleenex
• Small lotions
• Breath mints
• Hair scrunchies or elastic bands

The Apple Tree Campaign for 2022 began on July 5th and runs through August 5th.

How Can I Help?

At each of The Advocates’ three Utah offices, a cardboard apple tree has been set up with 100 apples. Each apple lists the name, age, size, and a clothing or supply need of one child staying at The Road Home. Anyone can stop by our Ogden, Murray, or American Fork offices to pick an apple off the tree, purchase the supplies listed on the apple, then come back to our office to drop off the items. The donations will be collected by The Road Home and given to the children in time for the beginning of the school year.
If you are unable to pick an apple from the tree, you may make a monetary donation at the Apple Tree Campaign’s website. Volunteers with The Road Home will do the shopping for you based on the children’s back-to-school needs. 100% of donations go to the kids at The Road Home. You may also make purchases from the campaign’s Amazon and Target wishlists.
With your help, we can provide Utah students with the tools they need to start their school year off on the right foot. Come by one of our offices today to help make a difference in the life of a child in our community.