CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It was a party like atmosphere at the fourth annual Backpack-A-Thon in downtown Chicago. A DJ pumped up the crowd as rows and rows of volunteers formed an assembly line to fill thousands of backpacks.
"We have 800 volunteers and our goal is to fill 50,000 backpacks in under three hours today," said Shoshana Buchholz-Miller, Executive Director, Cradles to Crayons.
From art supplies and notebooks, to writing tools, glue and rulers, Buchholz-Miller said each backpack is filled with everything Chicago Public Schools requires.
"I'm in charge of zipping up the backpacks. I'm the zipper," laughed Jae Jackson, CBRE, Chicago. Jackson is one of hundreds of corporate volunteers who spent the morning stuffing the backpacks.
"Not having the right supplies is one of the top 10 reasons kids don't go to school. Our goal is really is to take those reasons off the table if we can and to give them something they can be excited about," Buchholz-Miller said.
Cradles to Crayons supplies these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need, collecting new and like-new children’s items through grassroots community drives and corporate donations. Donations are processed and packaged by volunteers at warehouses called “Giving Factories” and are distributed to children through a collaborative network of social service agencies and school partners.