Last Spring, Castle Group, organized a school supply drive to benefit the families of local veterans. Between March 28th and April 28th, Castle Group collected new school supplies at their offices located throughout Florida. Supplies such as pens, paper, rulers, glue sticks and more were collected from donating employees, and then later packed into backpacks during Castle Group’s annual employee picnic. Those backpacks, bundled by Castle Group employees and their families, were distributed by the United Way Thursday, August 10, 2017 before the start of the 2017-2018 school year.
To alleviate the financial burden that a new school year can place on families, approximately 400 backpacks were donated to the children of military families in Broward County. Following tradition, CastleCaresSM – Castle Group’s philanthropic division – saluted the brave men and women in the military by partnering with United Way of Broward County’s MISSION UNITED to collect supplies for children of local veterans. This year marked the 3rd year that the charitable supply drive took place. The backpacks’ contents will ease the strain on the budgets of service members; and equip their children with the tools necessary for a semester of learning and academic achievement.
The backpack giveaway ceremony occurred at the Jean and David Colker Center for Veterans, at 1300 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, between 4:00pm and 7:00pm. The ceremony was hosted by Kathleen Cannon, President and CEO of United Way of Broward County, and Craig Vaughan, President of Castle Group. The charitable donations were accepted by Sergeant Major Ken Juede, Director of MISSION UNITED Broward, along with a pre-selected group of Military veteran families. “Castle Group will always support the families of our men and women in uniform,” added Castle Group President Craig Vaughan, “we are proud to support this worthwhile cause.” Mission United is a program with the key objective of helping United States military veterans and their families re-acclimate to civilian life.
