Kiwanis Foundation Donates Backpacks, AEDs To Local Schools

LAKE BLUFF, IL — With its motto "Serving the Children," the Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff and Lake Forest announced donations to local schools last month to meet both educational and safety needs. Now in its 95th year of service, the club pledged to provide automated external defibrillators to more than a dozen schools in Knollwood, Lake Bluff and Lake Forest and donated backpacks and school supplies to an entire North Chicago kindergarten class for the second year in a row.

At an Aug. 15 event organized by the Kiwanis to mark the start of the school year, kindergartners at Evelyn Alexander School, formerly known as North School, were offered their choice of new backpacks with books and crayons inside, according to the foundation. Some students squealed with delight and others hugged their new books, asking if they could take them home.

“What a meaningful introduction to a positive educational start at Alexander School," one Kiwanis member and former teacher said in a release. "The books are a welcoming independent and interactive motivation to read.”

Several local Kiwanis members are involved with the nonprofit organization Reading Power, which tutors students at the school.

“Providing backpacks, books and crayons fit perfectly with the Kiwanis motto of Serving the Children," said Kiwanis Foundation President David Lee.

In another Kiwanis project, Lee contacted all 15 area elementary and high schools last spring to inform them the foundation would be purchasing life saving AED units. The first school chosen to receive funding to buy one was Safe Haven School in Lake Bluff, which currently does not have any.

Foundation member Ralph Biederman last week invited Safe Haven Founder and Executive Director Holly Schaefer and Director of Clinical Services Sherry Smith to the Kiwanis bimonthly meeting. Smith explained Safe Haven's mission of providing a nurturing and therapeutic environment for children 5 to 18 facing various challenges.

At the end of her presentation, Lee caught Smith by surprise with the presentation of a $1,500 check for the cost an AED for the school, which was followed by hugs and cheers from those in attendance. The foundation said the donation is the first of many it will be making to local schools in the coming weeks.

Find out more from the Kiwanis Foundation of Lake Bluff & Lake Forest