Costco Gives Back with Student Packs
The only thing better than getting a fresh start to a new school year is doing it with all the right tools.
Thanks to local Costco stores, CCSD59 students are going to be able to do just that.
The Mount Prospect Costco, located at 999 N. Elmhurst Rd, donated 385 backpacks for the 2015/2016 school year to John Jay Elementary, which was slightly more than the total student enrollment for the year.
Mary Beth Niles, Principal at John Jay, said they were thrilled to learn about the donation and what it means to the students. “We appreciate our partnership with Costco, and their generous donation of a backpack for every student. Our students are so excited to start the new school year with a new backpack full of supplies. We want to thank Costco for their generosity and for their support to our school community.”
To celebrate the start of a new school year, on August 26, these backpacks were passed out to students at an all school assembly at John Jay to end the school day. School board members Sharon Roberts and Janice Krinsky, joined Dr. Fessler, Superintendent of Schools, the teachers and staff in the celebration.
The Costco Backpack Program, started in 1993, is a nationwide program where every Costco warehouse identifies a local school to “adopt” and donates backpacks filled with school supplies to students. The schools don’t have to apply to participate in the event- Costco identifies the schools they wish to assist for that year.
Jay Collins, the Membership Marketing Director of the Mount Prospect Costco store, said, “It just shows the civic mindedness of our culture to give back to our community. It’s part of our due diligence to help support initiatives that benefit local organizations such as CCSD59. I’m from the Mount Prospect area myself, and I’m proud we were able to provide the support to John Jay this year.”
For the 2015/2016 school year, CCSD59 schools were selected by not one but two local Costco stores. CCSD59 schools in Elk Grove also received a total of 400 free backpacks filled with school supplies, thanks to the Schaumburg Costco at 1375 Meecham, which also selected CCSD59 as the recipient of the free backpacks this year.
Jaime Reyes, Membership Marketing Coordinator for the Schaumburg store, said, “The goal is to assist the kids, by helping them return to school with an adequate start and with supplies that will help set them up for a successful school year.”
With a total donation of almost 800 backpacks to CCSD59, thanks to the generosity of Costco, many students are off to a great start.