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2012 Backpack-A-Thon

The 2012 Backpack-A-Thon is a partnership between Cradles to Crayons and United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania that provides low-income children served by more than 350 social service agencies with filled backpacks to start the school year. This one-day event is the largest back-to-school event in the region and has set a goal of stuffing 20,000 backpacks to help ensure that 20,000 students start school prepared and ready to learn.

Real Challenges

Child poverty is the highest it has been in 50 years.

• 1 in 5 children in the five-county southeastern Pennsylvania region lives in poverty.
• Philadelphia is the poorest of the ten largest cities in the U.S.
• About half of children from low-income communities start first grade up to two years behind their peers.

Real Change - Cradles to Crayons and United Way to Stuff and Deliver 20,000 Backpacks

Through donations and the help of volunteers in our community, the partnership of Cradles to Crayons and United Way raises money and collects items such as three-ring binders, loose leaf-paper, spiral notebooks, pencils, pens, and erasers. Prior to the first day of school, we will stuff the backpacks and deliver them to children and families in need.

 

Sponsors

For sponsorship info, click here.

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions about Backpack-a-Thon, please contact your United Way Development Officer or Mary Ann Milner at United Way at 215-665-2534.

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