Brushwood Center Distributing Free Bilingual Nature Backpacks

RIVERWOODS, IL — The Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, along with partners across Lake County, are once again teaming up to provide 1,500 free bilingual (English and Spanish) Nature Explorer Backpacks to local youth and family members in Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, and Highwood.

Representatives from the Riverwoods-based center will be distributing the free backpacks from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, as part of Warren Newport Library's back to school event at 224 North O'Plaine Road, Gurnee.

According to Brushwood, the Nature Explorer Backpack Project aims to empower young people as change-makers to help address systemic environmental and health injustices in our communities. This year, the Backpack contents and accompanying programs will focus on supporting children and their emotional health and wellbeing.

In addition, Brushwood Center said it will provide free activities, tools, and resources within the backpacks for coping with individual and community climate anxiety through collective action and social emotional skill building. The backpacks will also include a new health and nature activity book highlighting the plant species of the Waukegan Dunes and local stories of environmental justice and community activism in a comic book format.