These Philly high schoolers wanted to help refugee students. So they created their own nonprofit.

It was the young people who compelled Daniel Adibi.

The first-year student at Episcopal Academy had been volunteering with HIAS PA, a refugee and immigrant resettlement organization based in Philadelphia, when he was in middle school. When he saw the kids his age and younger — the trauma they had experienced, the difficulties of their journey to the United States and their financial instability — he knew he wanted to do something to help.

“I thought that one of the biggest things that they need is an education, and I wanted to essentially make sure that every student, their financial situation would not be an impediment to their education,” Adibi said.

Last year, Adibi cofounded Refugee School Supplies alongside Advaith Kollipara, a sophomore at North Penn High School. The two met and connected on what they were passionate about at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which helped them create the business that donates school supplies for refugee students.

The pair started first with fund-raising efforts, tabling at different events, doing community outreach, and partnering with organizations. Last fall, Adibi and Kollipara reached out to the resettlement agency Nationalities Service Center (NSC) and partnered with them as the main distributor of their donations. They also partnered with the Foundation for Delaware County, a fiscal sponsor for Refugee School Supplies, and the United Afghan Association.

“I wanted to essentially make sure that every student, their financial situation would not be an impediment to their education.”

“When a refugee arrives, being connected to their school community is really important for proper integration and resettlement,” said Jackie McCann, volunteer coordinator with NSC. “We want to make sure that students are starting the school year off right with the proper resources and agency and choice in small things like their backpacks or notebooks. So Refugee School Supplies has been a really great partnership in making sure that can happen for our clients.”

So far, Adibi and Kollipara have raised roughly $3,500. They have already donated backpacks filled with school supplies for 50 refugee students and have enough money left to donate 100 more supply bundles.

“They donated a lot of backpacks filled with school supplies and items that are harder to come by in the regular donation-sphere, like calculators, so that was really exciting,” McCann said.

The pair are also hoping to launch a wish-list feature soon on their website, where students can ask for specific supplies they need in the school year.

“Our parents are both immigrants who came over, and they told us about the struggles that they faced.”

Choosing to support refugees was a personal decision for the high schoolers, who are children of immigrants from Iran and India.

“Our parents are both immigrants who came over, and they told us about the struggles that they faced with job insecurity and how much less money they had,” Kollipara said. “So we thought it was important to do something for refugees.”

Balancing the business with their regular schoolwork and afterschool activities is not an easy feat, particularly for Kollipara as he prepares for the SATs. However, their continued partnership has made the work possible, picking up the slack when one is busier than the other — and they encourage other students to take initiative to support a cause they’re passionate about.

“The main first step would be reaching out to other organizations and see if there’s a need,” said Kollipara. “What we did basically was first try to get a fiscal sponsor to actually collect donations, and after that, it was just going with the flow and getting more partnerships, and spreading the word.”