Cross Blog

Assistance League donates much-needed backpacks for children

Monday, June 01, 2009

Pictured (from left) are John White, Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteer; Rick Schou, Red Cross Emergency Services Director; Wendy Way, Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteer; Renee Reese and Laura Royster, who are both with the Assistance League.

The Assistance League of Charlotte donated backpacks filled with school supplies to the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross. The donation came as part of the League’s “Operation Bookbag,” in which they provide the bags for children whose families have been victims of home fires and other disasters.

Each year, the League donates these packs to the Red Cross to distribute them to local school-aged children. Often, when a family is displaced, children lose their school supplies. Having these packs enables them to get back into school quickly.

The presentation was good timing, since the chapter recently ran completely out of these backpacks.

“We’re so thankful to have partner agencies like the Assistance League of Charlotte,” said Rick Schou, director of Emergency Services for the Greater Carolinas Chapter. “These packs are going to help local children return to a semblance of normalcy after being uprooted from their homes.”

The Assistance Leauge of Charlotte is a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and their families through community-based philanthropic projects. To learn more about them, visit charlotte.assistanceleague.org.