Picture this: 47 people armed with school supplies, 300 empty backpacks, and a mission to make sure local kids start the school year with everything they need.
That’s exactly what went down at the Center Parc Credit Union Foundation’s seventh annual Backpack Giveback—and spoiler alert, it was their biggest year yet.
The numbers tell a pretty great story. This year’s event packed 300 backpacks for students across metro Atlanta—that’s 50 more than last year’s haul. But here’s the thing: those numbers represent real kids getting a real shot at starting school on the right foot, which is what makes this whole thing matter.
The backpacks didn’t just magically appear, either. Center Parc employees dug into their own pockets to donate the school supplies that filled each one. Then 47 volunteers rolled up their sleeves at the credit union’s headquarters to get everything packed and ready to go. All 300 backpacks went straight to WSB-TV’s Stuff the Bus campaign, which distributes them to students in need throughout the metro area.
“Backpack Giveback is one of the highlights of our year because it reflects what our team is all about—coming together to support our communities in meaningful ways,” said Blake Westbrook, Chief Growth Officer at Center Parc Credit Union. “Knowing these backpacks will help students across metro Atlanta start the school year prepared makes this effort especially meaningful.”
What started as a single event seven years ago has quietly become a can’t-miss tradition for the Foundation and its employees. And it keeps getting bigger—both in terms of participation and impact. That growth isn’t just about hitting bigger numbers, though. It’s about more volunteers stepping up, more employees pitching in supplies, and ultimately more students walking into their first day of school with one less thing to worry about.
The Foundation’s focus on education and community support shows up in a lot of ways, but there’s something especially tangible about this one. You can literally count the backpacks. You can see the supplies going in. You know exactly who benefits and when. It’s the kind of straightforward community action that doesn’t need a lot of explaining—it just works.
To every volunteer who showed up and every employee who donated: the Foundation sees you, and so do the 300 students who’ll walk into school this year a little more prepared than they would’ve been otherwise. Not bad for a day’s work.