Students and staff from Ross Medical Education Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Ross Medical Education Center in Brighton, Michigan joined together this June and July to support Pack Your Back. They worked throughout the summer collecting much needed school supplies for families in the Detroit and Flint areas. Pack Your Back is a nonprofit organization established in 2016 by students after organizers noticed the financial burden families were facing in the Flint, Michigan school system. Pack Your Back is currently working this year to supply the children of Detroit and Flint with the supplies needed to support successful classroom learning.
Students at both campuses contributed generously to the cause. Students wore white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July and contribute supplies. Pack Your Back relies on the kind donations from the community and various stores in order to provide the school supplies to the children. Pack Your Pack has many fundraisers in place including a cook-off and a race. Monetary donations are also encouraged. Corporate partners in the effort are Concentra and Bright Side Dental, according the Pack Your Back website. The campus is collected pencils, notebooks, pens, paper, crayons, glue sticks, back packs and other school essentials.
During the next few weeks, Pack Your Back volunteers will be teaming up with nonprofit organizations and distributing all the school supplies that have been collected over the summer to students living in Detroit and Flint. The Flint distribution will feature Little Miss Flint.
Back Your Pack Co-Founder and Social Media Coordinator Anna Krinke visited the Brighton Campus to pick up the supplies. She was pleasantly surprised at the amount the students, friends, and staff collected from the Ann Arbor and Brighton Campuses. Four boxes full of pencils, crayons, pens, notebooks, glue sticks, folders, and scissors were collected. Anna indicated that registrations for both distribution events are full. The group estimates that over 400 hundred families will benefit from the event. Anna said she wanted to thank both the Ann Arbor and Brighton Campuses for their generous donations.
For more information email info@packyourback.org, visit the Pack Your Back Facebook page, or visit their website at packyourback.org.