Americold and Feed the Children are providing 500 backpacks to students at Seaborn Lee Elementary School in Atlanta GA in a backpack build activity.
The event, sponsored by Americold, involved 300 of the company’s associates building the backpacks for distribution. These backpacks will afford local Atlanta students an equal opportunity to succeed in the classroom, creating a brighter future for those who otherwise may not have had enough to continue in school.
In the United States, more than one million students are considered homeless. Because of like-minded corporate, church, and homeless liaison partners, Feed the Children’s HELP and backpack builds are able to reach homeless children in every US state.
“In our first year of partnership, we’re proud to have ‘pick ‘n packed’ 500 backpacks with school supplies for Atlanta children, and donated more than $30,000 in food transportation services with 20 full semitruck loads supporting the Home Front Harvest and Feed the Children summer meal programs. In all, we’ve enabled more than one million pounds of donated food to get to more than 5,000 deserving families,” said Fred Boehler, Americold president and chief executive officer. “In our second year of partnership, we’re aiming to better that, starting now with almost 300 of our associates donating their time to put together hundreds of packs with much-needed school supplies to help children in the local community.”
“We are always delighted when local organizations form partnerships with our schools to enhance student learning. Not only are you providing a gift that is useful right now, you are also inspiring students—through your story—to think about the future,” said Kenneth Zeff, interim superintendent for Fulton County Schools.
Feed the Children believes that it can create a world where no child goes to bed hungry. Since 1979, it has grown into one of the largest US-based charities. The charity explains the importance of backpacks on its website:
What do backpacks have to do with hunger? As with everything we do, they’re an important part of the big picture. The backpacks we distribute are filled with school essentials and hygiene items like toothbrushes and soap. But the benefit of backpacks is bigger than that. A backpack is something every student’s family needs to buy. But when you donate backpacks, it’s one less thing a family must find money to buy—allowing them to put their money toward other important things.
Also, backpacks provide homeless students with an emotional boost that can’t be calculated. A new backpack takes away one thing that makes them feel different from their other classmates. Not only does it help them get to school, it helps them feel better about themselves and do better in school.
To give a backpack to a student, click here.
Based in Atlanta GA, Americold owns and operates more than 180 temperature-controlled warehouses, with one billion cubic feet of storage in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, Argentina, and Canada. Americold serves more than 3,000 customers and employs 11,000 associates worldwide. More information is at www.americold.com.
