Volunteers and Shane Co.’s corporate team from all 22 locations of the family-owned jewelry chain have begun packing backpacks with school supplies for teachers to distribute to their students this school year.
Denver—Shane Co. is partnering with the Kids In Need Foundation (KINF) for the fifth year in a row to donate 7,200 backpacks filled with essential school supplies to students in under-resourced schools.
The annual backpack-filling events started on July 22 and will run through August.
Volunteers from Shane Co.’s corporate team and its 22 locations will use employer-paid volunteer days to pack individual backpacks with back-to-school essentials for teachers to distribute to their students for the 2024-2025 school year.
The backpacks will go to students based in the 14 regions that Shane Co. serves, which are the San Francisco Bay Area; Atlanta; St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seattle; Phoenix; Sacramento, California; Denver; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Kansas; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis; Portland, Oregon; Nashville, Tennessee; and Salt Lake City.
Shane Co. and KINF donated backpacks to 6,000 students in 13 states last year.
“We are thankful for Shane Co.’s ongoing support of under-resourced students and teachers throughout the country,” said Corey Gordon, CEO of KINF.
“Through their commitment, thousands of students start off the school year with not only the supplies, but also, the encouragement they need to succeed. Together, we’re helping to create equitable learning environments for these students.”
As prices rise on many household essentials, more parents and teachers look to resources like this annual backpack giveaway to give their children what they need for the school year, said Shane Co.
The children who receive these backpacks are in schools where over 70 percent of the student population participates in the National School Lunch Program, which provides children who come from low-income families or school districts with low-cost or free lunches every school day.
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“As we enter our fifth year partnering with Kids In Need Foundation, it is incredible to reflect on the growth of this program since its inception. It’s become an initiative our team looks forward to every year,” said Rordan Shane, president and CEO of Shane Co.
“It’s inspiring to envision how much more this program will grow and how many students and teachers we will support. Helping under-resourced students and teachers is now a fundamental part of our company culture, and we are excited to continue our commitment to making an impact.”
Shane Co. and KINF began its partnership in 2020. Since then, over 27,000 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and 1,300 classrooms have been supported with essential school supplies.
For more information on KINF or to donate, visit its website.
