By Hedge Fund Insight staff
High Water Women, a leading philanthropic organization focused on
financial literacy and initiatives for low-income children, has completed its 13th annual Backpack Drive, delivering more than 16,000 fully-supplied backpacks to tristate area children in need. The drive is the culmination of a fundraising effort that started in March and raised more than $300,000. Since the Backpack Drive began in 2005, HWW has provided backpacks to 124,500 children in need.
More than 2500 donors and volunteers participated in this year’s drive, which took place at more than thirty tristate assembly/distribution locations. Many financial services and other companies supported the drive and participated in backpack assemblies: Allianz Global Investors, AXA, Barclays Center, Barclays Bank, Cambridge Associates, Brown Advisory, Corbin Capital, Crowe Horwath, Forester Capital, Grey Advertising, Institutional Investor, Golden Tree, Imagineer, Jennison, JP Morgan, Kingdon Capital, KPMG, Mercer, MKP, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Pershing Square, PineBridge, ProShares, Putnam Investments, Prudential Financial, Reed Smith, Time Inc., Third Avenue Funds and Viking Global.
Donations from the attendees of this year’s Institutional Investor annual awards dinners (Lipper Mutual Funds Awards and Hedge Fund Industry Awards) plus the Pageant Media Mutual Funds Awards Dinner all held during the spring were particularly important to the drive’s success.
Janice Abert, HWW Board of Directors and Chairperson of the Backpack Drive and Partner at DHR, International, “Our corporate sponsorship has expanded significantly due to companies wanting to offer their employees a volunteer and community engagement opportunity. Employees get so excited participating on an assembly line to stuff the backpacks with school supplies and feel very good about knowing that they’re helping so many children start school ready to learn!”
Recipient charities included: Andrus, Cambridge Family and Children Services, The Child Center of NY, Children’s Learning Center, DreamYard, Emmanuel Worship Center, Evangelical Temple, ExpandED Schools, Forestdale, Friends of the Children, GEMS, Go Project, Good Shepherd Services, High School of Art and Design, Hour Children, Hunts Point Alliance for Children, Inspirica, Inwood House, Interfaith Food Pantry, Iris House, Jewish Childcare, Jubilee Center of Hoboken, Manhattan Children’s Academy, Marble Collegiate, New Alternatives for Children, Newark Church Backpack Drive, Partnership with Children, Public Prep, Southport Congregation, Storefront Academy, Tabernacle of Prayer, TEAK Fellowship, Wynona House, Women’s Prison Association, and Young Women’s Leadership Network.
About High Water Women
High Water Women (HWW) is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of women and youth through programs in financial literacy, microfinance and other initiatives for low-income children supported by volunteers and donors in the financial services industry. HWW has also become a leader in convening symposia for impact investors. www.highwaterwomen.org
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