Video by Ron Bend/CSU Videography
Nearly 2,700 students in the Poudre School District are going to start the new school year off right with new backpacks and essential supplies thanks to School is Cool.
More than 300 people volunteered for Colorado State University’s signature outreach effort to provide backpacks filled with school supplies. Volunteers worked at Johnson Hall Aug. 8-10, organizing school supplies and stuffing backpacks before they were loaded onto CSU buses for delivery to schools, where school administrators distributed them to students in need.
In all, volunteers gave more than 1,000 hours of their time to support School is Cool, which included students, faculty and staff as well as Northern Colorado community members. CSU President Amy Parsons and Front Range Community College President Colleen Simpson were among the volunteers who stopped by to help fill backpacks in support of PSD students.
Photos by CSU Photography
This year, School is Cool delivered to 33 PSD schools as well as provided backpacks and supplies for the Employee Assistance Program and unhoused students at Catholic Charities.
The community outreach program — established by retired CSU employee Kathy Phifer in 1992 — is managed and organized by CSU employees, with funding coming from the University community and the Bohemian Foundation, as well as significant support from the CSU Bookstore.
School is Cool co-chair Maggie Walsh explained that the success of this year’s program would not be possible without the support of the CSU community.
“School is Cool has assisted approximately 60,000 students since its inception, and this year, the CSU community and partners really made a difference,” Walsh said. “In today’s environment, it is even more critical that all students have the necessary resources, so they don’t fall behind.”
Give today
School is Cool is still short of its fundraising goal. A donation of only $30 pays for a backpack filled with school supplies for a Poudre School District student. Donate here at advancing.colostate.edu/SIC.
