15th Annual CASA Back-to-School Event a Success!

On August 3, kids and families served by CASA joined us at the Pittsburgh Zoo for CASA’s annual Back-to-School Backpack Giveaway. For the fifteenth year, we welcomed more than a hundred children and their families to enjoy all the Zoo has to offer while spending the last days of summer together prior to the start of school.

Kids were able to visit the animals and exhibits, enjoy lunch in the Garden Tent, and then pick out brand new backpacks and school supplies including notebooks, folders, pencils, crayons, and glue sticks to prepare for the upcoming school year.

We want to ensure that every child we serve has the tools they need to enter the classroom with confidence, to have a good school year, and achieve their highest potential! For children to be successful in school, they need support from many people. A strong partnership with their support system, teachers and other staff makes a big difference in their education. We share the responsibility for our CASA kids’ success and we want them to know that we will do our best to support them.

It is also important to support their families to lift the financial burden off during this time of year. “Seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces when they pick out their favorite color or pattern makes every minute of planning worth it,” says Melissa Protzek, CASA Executive Director. “We want kids and families to know we stand right behind them.”

An initiative of this scale requires a dedicated team. The event was made possible through the support of major sponsors, including the Centimark Foundation and the Nina Baldwin Fisher Foundation, alongside CASA Board members and volunteers who worked the event.

As one of our parents shared, “CASA has meant a lot to me and my five children over the years, especially now with the cost of everything skyrocketing. This organization is a godsend. The organizers are so sweet and professional, they make a way for my kids needs when I’m hanging by a string. Thank you to everyone to make this experience possible for my children.”