Architects, engineers and construction professionals from the greater Atlanta area volunteered their time to donate supplies at two local elementary schools. The event was organized by the architectural firm Perkins & Will, with employees Erika Kane, a senior project designer and senior associate, and Maria Montgomery, a project architect and associate, leading the effort.
The design and construction professionals raised about $38,000 for the yearly Backpack Bash event for Clayton County Public Schools, a suburban county south of Atlanta. The money was used to buy backpacks and school supplies for about 1,100 students at G.W. Northcutt Elementary School and West Clayton Elementary School, both located in College Park, Georgia, near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Commercial real estate companies across the country have participated in backpack-stuffing events over the past couple of years. Last year, CBRE Cares Chicago joined Cradles to Crayons Chicago to load about 70,000 backpacks at the group's annual Ready for Learning Backpack-A-Thon at The Daley Center Plaza. This summer, CoStar Group, the publisher of CoStar News, is the lead sponsor of the sixth annual Ultimate Backpack Supply Drive that works to provide Richmond, Virginia, public school students with more than 35,000 free backpacks filled with essential school supplies.
In metropolitan Atlanta, Kane, Montgomery and several Perkins & Will colleagues and volunteers visited the schools in late July to deliver the backpacks and school supplies at an event featuring music and games.
Professionals from several other firms also participated, including AH&P, JE Dunn Construction, Mazzetti, Meja Construction, Newcomb & Boyd and Swinerton.