ROCKVILLE, Md. (WDVM) — Christmas Is Not Cancelled is a charitable event that delivers school supplies to children in foster care every year. This July, the packing event took place in Rockville.

Hundreds of volunteers from the DMV community came together to ensure children in foster care are ready for the school year. 

This event is designed to assist children in foster care to make sure they don’t fall behind in school, by providing them with school supplies and other necessities.

Organizer Jen Lilley says as someone who dealt with the foster care system she wants to give hope to children and provide them an equal educational opportunity.

According to organizers, Christmas In July began on June 27 as an online interactive virtual camp where celebrities, fans and brands come together as a community to play games, have fun and fundraise. They fulfill 2,021 backpacks, which were packed on Thursday, July 29 at the Comfort Cases headquarters.

“Only about 50% of kids in foster care ever graduate high school. They face a whole new set of challenges that we might not otherwise face going through a normal school system,” said Lilley.

Lilley partnered with Comfort Cases, Childhelp, City Serve and Sackcloth + Ashes to deliver over 2,000 backpacks filled with educational resources for children in foster care to thrive.

According to foster success, the overall graduation rate for foster youth fell from 64.6 percent in 2019 to 55.3 percent in 2020.

Organizers say this effort is all about making foster care children feel seen and ready to take on the new school year.

“Kids come into foster care because of the choices other people made. We have a choice of how we treat them. I know for me as a kid who aged out in the system here in the DMV, I was homeless and I needed someone to let me know that I was loved, so that is what we try to do for these children,” said Rob Scheer, founder of Comfort Cases.

Comfort Cases packs items for foster care children every day. They are always looking for volunteers. If you would like to get involved visit Comfort Cases.