School supply drive yields 4,000 kits for students across CCSD
The current COVID crisis hasn’t stopped Cherry Creek School District students from learning, and it hasn’t stopped representatives from across CCSD’s 108 square miles from stepping up to support that effort.
This week saw another example of the Cherry Creek Schools community uniting to support student learning. The Cherry Creek Schools Foundation teamed up with Prosono, a local business strategy and social impact consulting firm, to assemble and distribute about 4,000 kits packed with school supplies for students across the district.
Volunteers from the community gathered at the Denver Marriott Tech Center over the weekend to assemble the kits, which include basic necessities that are key to remote learning at home; thousands of students will receive paper, pencils and other essentials as a result of this partnership. The participants observed social distancing guidelines and strict safety regulations as they came together to assemble the supplies.
The kits are being distributed to the community this week at district sites designated as drop-off points for the district’s Free Breakfast and Lunch program. According to Cherry Creek Schools Foundation Executive Director Jill Henden, the supply kits serve a similar purpose as the meal distribution; namely, to meet the basic needs of all CCSD families during a time of unprecedented crisis. Thanks to $10,000 in funding from the Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund, students of all backgrounds and needs will have the essential materials they need to continue their learning at home.
“Everyone at the Foundation and in the broader district administration are committed to providing critical resources to all of our families. This includes school supplies to support remote learning across the district,” Henden said. “Our generous community of donors are the reason we were able to provide these 4,000 kits to our families.”
Those kits came together thanks to a coordinated effort from all corners of the community. Representatives from Prosono and the volunteer organization Helping Habit helped organize volunteers to physically put together the kits, while the Denver Marriott Tech Center donated the space for the actual assembly.
More than 150 volunteers reported to the hotel over the weekend to make sure the kits were ready to deliver this week. This corps of workers represented the entire district and more – Foundation board members worked side-by-side with teachers and parents; staff from different CCSD buildings came together for a common cause; and Marriott employees offered the space and tools to make sure the assembly was successful.
It was an effort that truly encapsulated a spirit of togetherness and solidarity, according to Prosono’s Julie Seltz.
“We are proud of our partnership with Cherry Creek Schools,” said Seltz, principal with the firm. “This school supply drive was all about our students; it was designed to ensure their access to materials required for remote learning and further enable teachers to do their job. It was successful because of the generosity of the donors and the volunteers who helped assemble the remote learning kits.”
This drive was only one example of work across the district designed to support the community during the crisis. For more information about the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation Emergency Funds and to donate, visit https://ccsdfoundation.org/cherry-creek-schools-emergency-relief-fund.html. For more information about the district’s Free Breakfast and Lunch Program, visit https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/freemeals.
