Elgin Community College’s Project Backpack is back this year, helping collect school supplies for children whose families need a helping hand.
Project Backpack started in 2010 as a smaller event at year-round schools within School District U46, ECC Student Life coordinator Katie Storey said. When that school calendar was eliminated, ECC stepped in to take over the project and expanded it to include all schools within ECC’s district boundaries.
“Our event is open to anybody in need who resides in District 509,” Storey said, adding the district extends from Elgin to St. Charles and Burlington. Families must present two forms of ID for each child, she said.
The number of families who need help varies every year but on average, Project Backpack helps an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 children, she said.
Backpacks filled with folders, spiral notebooks, packs of loose leaf filler paper, a package of pencils, black pens, scissors, glue sticks, rulers and crayons will be passed out to children Aug. 8. Storey said each backpack is valued at $20.
Volunteers are needed to fill backpacks Thursday and distribute them. To volunteer, contact the ECC Student Life office at 847-214-7659.
“We try to make it a day for (children) to get excited for the first day of school and so they know there are people here to support them to have a successful year,” Storey said.
The event is “exciting and uplifting,” she said.
Donations are being accepted through Friday at various locations including:
Anderson Animal Shelter, 1000 South La Fox St., South Elgin
District U46 Educational Services Center, 2nd Floor Reception Area, 355 East Chicago St., Elgin
Elgin Chamber of Commerce, 31 S. Grove, Elgin
Elgin Community College, Building B – Student Life Office, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin
Elgin State Bank locations including 590 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin
Elgin Township Supervisor Office, 729 S. McLean Blvd., Elgin
Family Service Association of Greater Elgin, 1140 N. McLean Blvd. Suite I, Elgin
United Way of Elgin, 1797 North LaFox St., South Elgin
YWCA Elgin, 220 East Chicago St., Elgin
Taylor Family Branch YMCA, 50 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin
“We greatly appreciate anything,” Storey said, adding crayons that cost 50 cents will be of great use to the children the project is helping.
ECC’s partners in the project are the college’s Student Life department, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, Student Government, ECC Faculty Association, ECCP3, Community Crisis Center, Kane County Regional Office of Education, Kane County Teachers Credit Union, School Districts 300 and U-46 and United Way of Elgin.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
