BRADFORD, PA/OLEAN, NY – Employees of Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and Olean General Hospital (OGH), Kaleida Health facilities, packed 500 backpacks with a variety of school supplies which will benefit area elementary students for this school year.

The donated backpacks were distributed to students who might otherwise go without necessary school supplies. The program is celebrating its fourteenth year, which benefits students in George G. Blaisdell, School Street, and Bradford Area Christian Academy schools in Bradford, Smethport, and Otto-Eldred schools in Pennsylvania; East View and Washington West schools in Olean, as well as Cuba-Rushford, Delevan, Friendship, Hinsdale, and Salamanca schools in New York.

Students receiving the backpacks will find items such as pencils, erasers, scissors, paper, crayons, rulers, glue sticks, and folders to start the school year. All items were donated by employees of both hospital campus and the physician practices.

“Our employees always looked forward to this event every year. The participation and generosity of our team members is genuinely astonishing,” said Joseph Fuglewicz, marketing director, BRMC, OGH. “These outreach programs are important for us to show that our team members are invested in our communities and care for our neighbors outside the four walls of our hospitals.”

The backpack program is part of the hospitals’ community connections initiative, a program where employees volunteer their time to educate the community on a variety of health and wellness issues to promote healthier lifestyles and address community health, safety, and social needs in the hospitals’ service areas.