Back to School in Style
Ashland Alliance's Young Professionals Gives Back(Packs)
Gwen Akers
The Ashland Beacon
Everyone can remember their first day of school–the excitement that kept you awake at night and the anticipation of beginning a new adventure. The Ashland Alliance’s Young Professionals Program seeks to make this memory a positive one for the children of Boyd and Greenup counties with their backpack program–a community outreach program that seeks to allow every child to get back to school in style.
“The Backpack Program is a program where we gather children for sponsorship opportunities that are going back to school in Greenup and Boyd county school districts. We rally with the resource centers for underprivileged children to get their necessities for back to school. We try to help them start their school year on an even playing field– [just] as everyone else,” detailed Amanda Gillum.
The program has been around for several years and has been headed by Amanda Gillium for the past seven. Gillum is a member of the philanthropy board and a standout member of the group. Partnering with resources centers in the local area, the Ashland Young Professionals create “cards” for each child who are in need of a backpack and school supplies for the school year. The cards include information including the child’s clothing sizes, favorite colors, favorite characters, and more. From here, the community takes the reins to pack these backpacks full of school supplies, a new outfit, and new shoes for each and every child.
“Even though it’s a card, you are truly shopping for the individual. They are not just cards to me. They are kids; these are individuals,” explained Gillium.
The Ashland Young Professionals begin planning their philanthropy in April and pass out the cards by the beginning of June. Around the first of August, they start collecting the backpacks and preparing to distribute them to the children in time for the school year to start.
At its height, the program was helping around 1000 kids; however this number has dwindled in the past year due to Covid. Despite this, nothing is going to stand in the way of the Ashland Young Professionals making a difference in the lives of young school children. They hope to keep growing and expanding the program to impact as many children as they possibly can.
“We just went for those kids to remember their first day of school and be excited. We hope one of these days that we get those kids back into our community, and they join AYP, and they want to be a part of the backpack program as well,” expressed Gillum.
This is truly a fundraiser that both “passes it forward” and gives back to our community and the people that make it such. Each and every backpack is packed with care. Every donation is placed and given with intention and support for those that will receive it.
Those interested in taking part in the backpack program should contact Richard Reams, the President of the Ashland Young Professionals group, or the Ashland Alliance for more information.
