CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — For one week each summer, you can find Sarah Chilson inside the gym at Canandaigua Primary-Elementary, packing hundreds of backpacks.

“Four-hundred fifty-two bags for Canandaigua and 50 bags for our Victor program,” said Chilson, executive director for The Spot Canandaigua.

Each bag gets stuffed with supplies according to grade. The money for them comes from community donations.

But what sets The Spot program apart is the level of personalization that gets put into each backpack.

“When students register they let us know if they like purple or don’t like blue," said Chilson. "We take those preferences and pick items we think they’ll like.”

Chilson founded The Spot non-profit six years ago. Since then it’s grown from just her and her husband to hundreds of volunteers.

During the first year, The spot helped 120 students. This year, 452 backpacks are being given away.

Chilson thinks there are a couple of factors behind the increase.

“I think the word is getting out more but also a lot of folks are struggling," she said. "When you look at the poverty levels in the area, it may not be as high as you anticipate, but when you look at the ALICE population of folks that are living in our area, that's the Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed folks, the poverty level might be 2%, but that ALICE population can jump up to 22% in a place like Victor. So it's really seeing it's folks living in the gray area where their monthly budget just doesn't allow them to purchase things like back to school items.”

The group spends a week packing backpacks. Students and their families can pick them up Saturday, an event that shows Chilson all the work is worth it.

“I still remember the first year we did it," she said. "A father came up to me and said he was really unsure of how he was going to pay bills and buy school supplies for his three kids. This was a weight lifted off his shoulders."

The Spot also provides free resource rooms inside the schools for students to get more supplies throughout the year.