Employees from Chicago-based Draper and Kramer helped in making the start of a new school year a bit easier for hundreds of Chicago students. They collectively donated more than 300 backpacks filled with school supplies needed to enter a fresh new year.
The donation is an extension of Draper and Kramer’s involvement with the Wood Family Foundation’s “Pitch In” after-school mentoring program. In 2014, a team from the firm’s Commercial Finance Group began mentoring students after school one day a week at Chicago’s Lawndale Academy. Soon thereafter, the team decided they wanted to do more.
The result was an annual company-wide effort through the Wood Family Foundation to collect funds to buy and fill backpacks for students at the school. This year, Draper and Kramer employees from across the company raised enough money to buy and donate 382 backpacks filled with back-to-school supplies – enough for every child in Chicago’s Lawndale Academy preK-8 school, and nearly four times the number of backpacks the firm donated in 2015.
“These kids are just so great. It’s really wonderful to have watched them grow up over the time we’ve worked with them,” said Jane Kanan, senior vice president at Draper and Kramer. “Our employees feel very strongly about giving back to the community, and we love that Draper and Kramer supports us in these efforts.”
According to Kanan, Draper and Kramer is proud to offer a robust charitable giving program that raises money for 501(c)(3) organizations selected by the company’s employees. Organizations are chosen based on their reputation and commitment to address the needs of the communities they serve, while placing emphasis on supporting local organizations in the Chicagoland region whose visions address the betterment of the city and the people in it.
