Pack to School "Packathon" August 17, 2007

10,000 Massachusetts kids will start school with a backpack filled with books and supplies thanks to the upcoming “Pack to School” Pack-A-Thon presented by Shaw’s Supermarkets. On Friday, August 17th at 8 .am., City Hall Plaza will be a sea of backpacks as volunteers from Cradles to Crayons and Shaw’s will be packing books, notebooks, pencils, bookmarks and more into 10,000 backpacks. The public is invited to help pack the backpacks and in turn enjoy a morning of fun with great kid’s activities, free ice cream and music and special guest appearances by Arthur and his creator Marc Brown along with Boston Mayor Menino. Families, kids and anyone interested in helping out are encouraged to register at www.packathon.com. In addition, Cradles to Crayons will accept donations of new school supplies such as notebooks, washable markers, colored pencils, folders or child safe scissors.



This kicks off an important 3-week Shaw’s in-store campaign aimed at providing an additional 30,000 school supply kits. The public is invited to come to Shaw’s and purchase one of these kits for $10 and then donate it. Shaw’s along with partner charities in every state will then collect and distribute these kits to those in need throughout New England. The backpacks themselves were donated by the Office Depot Foundation in partnership with Feed The Children.



The “Pack to School” Pack-A-Thon kicks off at 8 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. There will be a news conference with Boston Mayor Menino, Author Marc Brown and Shaw’s President Carl Jablonski at 10 a.m. Kids are invited attend this event and learn about kids giving to kids. Activities include:



v Music from WODS

v Free Ice Cream from MIX 98.5

v Healthy, delicious treats from Shaw’s

v Comcast will offer a “virtual photo shoot” with Arthur for every child in attendance by using a special effects “green screen” on one of its Broadband Vans

v Face Painting from Children’s Hospital

v And more from other sponsors including Neighborhood Health Plan, Gentle Dental, etc.



The “Pack to School” Pack-A-Thon kicks off at 8am and ends at 2pm. There will be a news conference with Boston Mayor Menino, Author Marc Brown and Shaw’s President Carl Jablonski at 10am. Kids are invited attend this event and learn about kids giving to kids. WODS will be providing music and MIX 98.5 will be serving free ice cream. Comcast will provide a keepsake photo and a booklet regarding internet safety. Shaw’s will be handing out delicious samples and booths, displays and activities will be provided by Children’s Hospital, Neighborhood Health Plan, Gentle Dental and others.

Official Website: http://www.packathon.com