The backpacks were filled with items students will need for the upcoming school year, including notebooks, folders, pencils and glue. Many of the backpacks will go to Chicago Public Schools students.
"We know that with these backpacks, a lot of our children now will be ready that otherwise wouldn't be ready to start school on Monday, Aug. 24," said Fanny Diego Alvarez, CPS chief officer for the Office of Family and Community Engagement.
For volunteers, the event was an opportunity to support students and families preparing for the new school year.
SEE ALSO: Milwaukee recruits laid-off CPS teachers as Chicago Board of Education budget vote looms
"I have a child in CPS myself. She's gonna be starting kindergarten, and, we are in an area where there's some mixed income. So we personally see the impact of this and how it can be really helpful for the students. Just being prepared, just having everything that they need in order to be able to be successful," said Ngoc Nguyen, a corporate volunteer with Options Clearing Corporation and a CPS parent.
The Backpack-a-thon is one of several local efforts aimed at helping Chicago families. Another initiative comes from the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which provides meals for children attending camps across the city during the summer.
At Holy Family School, campers receive free breakfast and lunch through the program. The food assistance comes as the nonprofit reports that housing and food prices have risen and wages have not kept pace.
"You add some of these SNAP cuts of late and some of these grocery store closures and it's just tough (for people out there)," said Camerin Mattson of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Johnnie Dossie is the food service manager at Holy Family School.
"We don't know what the kids have at home, and we don't know if they get three meals a day. So if they come here and they say, 'Well, I want this and I want that,' or, 'Can I have this? Can I have that?' Yeah, we accommodate them," Dossie said.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository operates 115 feeding programs in Cook County during the summer months, when students are not receiving free lunches through their schools.
To find a summer feeding program, see the resources below:
Nutrition programs: We Got You Illinois
To find food or donate: Food Depository in Chicago | Greater Chicago Food Depository
Cradles to Crayons