The Berrien Community Foundation (BCF) is helping students get ready to learn this fall by providing over 1,500 backpacks filled with school supplies to students who live in the 49022 ZIP code.
BCF will host Backpacks For Good, a school readiness event from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, August 16 at the Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor Youth Campus (600 Nate Wells Sr. Drive, Benton Harbor). The event is open to students who live in the 49022 ZIP code, regardless of the school they attend.
“Backpacks for Good events are community collaborations from the hosting sites, to funding, to volunteers,” said Berrien Community Foundation President Lisa Cripps-Downey. “It is a community effort to help our students and to ease a financial burden on families.”
For this event, Whirlpool Corporation helped sponsor the event but also Whirlpool employees packed the backpacks and will join other community members and friends at The Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor at the distribution event.
Whirlpool employees spent Thursday afternoon stuffing hundreds of backpacks.
“The Backpacks for Good project provides a meaningful volunteer opportunity for our employees and connects to the commitments made in our Racial Equality Pledge” said Pam Klyn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations & Sustainability at Whirlpool Corporation. “Helping young people in this community to be prepared for school in the fall and excited about learning is an investment in their educational future. This project is a natural collaboration as we think about Whirlpool Corporation’s vision of Improving Life at Home.”
In addition to backpacks and school supplies, Feeding America of West Michigan will have a mobile food pantry onsite along several other community resources that focus on children and families.
Families of students who live in the 49022 ZIP code, regardless of what school they attend, are encouraged to bring their students so they can choose the color of backpack they want and visit with the other resources as well. No registration is required.
The August 16 event in Benton Harbor is one of three Berrien Community Foundation Backpacks For Good events this year. Additional events are:
Backpacks For Good for Students Who Attend Coloma, Watervliet or Hagar #6 Schools is August 18, 4-6 p.m. at Coloma High School (Partnering sponsor – The De Groot Family Foundation) for students who attend Coloma Community Schools, Watervliet Public Schools or Riverside Hagar #6 School, regardless of the ZIP code in which they live.
For more information on all backpack events, go to www.berriencommunity.org/backpacksforgood.
