A statewide campaign geared toward providing economically disadvantaged students with back-to-school supplies is set to kick off Sunday.

The 2011 “Build a Backpack” school supplies drive is a collaborative effort between Communities In Schools of North Carolina and Walmart.

Set to run until Aug. 21, the initiative features both cash donations as well as drop-off bins, which will be set up at Walmart stores across the state.

Customers will be asked at check-out to contribute $1 to $10 to Communities In Schools, and the supplies gathered in the bins will be distributed to local Communities In Schools affiliates that will then distribute the items to identified low-income students.

Money collected will be distributed in the form of Walmart gift cards to local Communities In Schools affiliates, which will then provide backpacks for families to gather supplies.

On Aug. 22, students from area schools, accompanied by volunteers from Communities In Schools site coordinators, will shop for school supplies and other items, said Sandra Jones Jones, executive director of Communities In Schools of the Rocky Mount Region.

“A drive of this magnitude will certainly have a great impact on our community. The burden of purchasing need school supplies will be eased,” Jones said. “We are in the business of providing needed resources to families. Thanks to the generosity of Walmart, we will make it happen for many of our students and their families.”

When either one or both parents may be unemployed, low-income families face a huge difficulty and are overwhelmed when looking to purchase all of the school supplies their children might need, she said.

“It’s important that the kids get off to the right start at the beginning of school,” Jones said. “If a child knows that he or she does not have the required materials for class, that does something to their egos and attitudes. They don’t want anybody to know.”

The initiative stands to be the largest Walmart back-to-school drive in state history.

“We could not be more thrilled to partner with Communities In Schools to serve our state’s students,” said Ronny Hayes, regional vice president of Walmart and board member of Communities In Schools of North Carolina. “It is our hope that the back-to-school supply drive piloted here in North Carolina, with the invaluable help of Communities In Schools to ensure that the neediest students be the recipients of the collected items, will serve as a model across the country.”