Think Good, It’s Friday! 8.21.15

It’s that time of year!

While the first day of school for Chicago Public School students is still a few weeks away (and I know those kids are soaking up the last bits of summer), it’s officially back-to-school time for many youth across the region.

Whether it’s first-graders offering their advice to kindergartners (hint: you should not climb on the walls like Spider-Man), teens gearing up for exciting after-school programs or those getting dropped off by their parents at college—the Trust is wishing all students the best of luck this year.

In honor of back-to-school, this week I wanted to share some back-to-school-themed good news from around the Web:

• The Chicago Urban League (one of the Trust’s first grant recipients 100 years ago) hosted its annual school supply giveaway event for students last weekend, distributing more than 400 book bags and school supplies to students.
• Jennifer Hudson and her sister Julia passed out school supplies to kids last week as part of the fifth annual Hatch Day Friday in the West Pullman neighborhood (via the Chicago Tribune).
• The nonprofit Sudden Cardiac-death Awareness Research Foundation educates and inspires teens who hope to enter the medical field, including a senior from Jacobs High School in Algonquin who was one of 15 interns who spent the summer closely working with a cardiac electrophysiologist (via the Daily Herald).
• The Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah took more than 40 kids from his Noah’s Arc Foundation on a back to school shopping spree at a Chicago-area Kids Foot Locker (via CBS Sports).
• A Boy Scout from Troop 88 in Winfield is hosting a community bike drive next weekend as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project (via the Daily Southtown).
• Not Chicago-based, but I really enjoyed this article about a small town in Michigan that has put a program in place to ensure that all students graduating from the local high school have the opportunity to go to college (via the Atlantic).

Please share your story of philanthropy here at cct.org, by sending an email to trust100@cct.org or on social media using the hashtag #Trust100.