Children wearing backpacks collected during the Jonathan Daniels Memorial School Drive.

During a previous Daniels drive, students try their newly stuffed backpacks on for size.

Jonathan D. Daniels, MD, Memorial School Drive Is Now Accepting Donations

Annual backpack drive provides school supplies to students in the East Side neighborhood where Daniels was a beloved pediatrician

Release Date: June 12, 2025

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Before Daniels’ death, he had been working with his team in admissions on organizing a school supply drive to provide tools for success for children in underserved neighborhoods in Buffalo.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The fourth annual Jonathan D. Daniels, MD, Memorial School Drive: The Next Generation of Transformational Leaders is underway. The goal is to give away 300 backpacks filled with school supplies to students in grades K-8.

Daniels, who was associate director of admissions at the  at the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ and a 1998 graduate of the school, died July 4, 2022, along with two of his adult daughters, Jordan and Jensen, in a fire at their North Buffalo home. He was a beloved member of the Buffalo and Jacobs School communities.

A complete list of supplies needed is available ; supplies will be delivered directly to the Jacobs School. Please choose supplies from this list only.

Before Daniels’ death, he had been working with his team in admissions on organizing a school supply drive to provide tools for success for children in underserved neighborhoods in Buffalo.

The filled backpacks will be distributed to neighborhood students on Saturday, July 26, from 1-3 p.m. in the parking lot of Care Medical Practice, 1315 Jefferson Ave., Buffalo. Students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to receive a backpack.

Media Contact Information

Ellen Goldbaum
News Content Manager
Medicine
Tel: 716-645-4605
goldbaum@buffalo.edu