Back 2 School program benefiting underprivileged children in Chicagoland. This program partners with Communities That Care to collect backpacks filled with school supplies for low-income youth in our communities who are in need of the educational tools necessary for a proper education.
The program works by choosing a Back-to-School tag with a list of the school supplies needed for each age group. Participants purchase a new backpack, fill it with the school supplies listed on the tag, and attach the tag to the front of the backpack. It’s a great way to make a child feel like a million dollars, equipped with a brand new backpack and school supplies on that first day of school!
Back 2 School Illinois (formerly The Illinois Currency Exchange Charitable Foundation) was formed in 2010, by the Community Currency Exchange Association of Illinois (CCEA), which represents more than 350 Currency Exchanges in the state. The roots of the organization were planted a number of years earlier when the first free school supply distribution was launched.
During the next decade, the school supplies program continued to expand, reaching more and more children from low-income families. As the program evolved, supplies were distributed in the form of Back 2 School kits, each containing the core supplies that students need to succeed in the classroom. To facilitate the distribution of these kits, partnerships have been developed with numerous community organizations and government agencies. In 2015, our Build-A-Kit initiative, which allows companies to purchase school supplies in bulk and assemble them into kits, as part of a team building exercise, has helped to accelerate the growth of the Back 2 School program.
While the Back 2 School program remains the main thrust of Back 2 School Illinois efforts, the organization also offers other programs that fit within the guidelines of our mission.
To learn more about the program, or to donate: https://b2si.org
