SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Back 2 School Illinois CEO Matthew Kurtzman said the nonprofit organization focuses on providing free school supplies to kids across the state.

"In Illinois alone every year, there's about 1.2 million kids that live in low-income families that are struggling to pay the bills," Kurtzman said.

According to Kurtzman, if it's hard for families to pay their mortgage or their rent, buying school supplies for their children may not be a top priority.

"If you can imagine what's its like for a kid to go back to school and not have the tools they need to do the work," Kurtzman said. "That certainly doesn't set them up for learning."

Last year, Back 2 School Illinois helped provide school supply kits to 33,000 children in the state.

"In the younger kid kits, you're going to find crayons, construction paper (and) scissors," Kurtzman said. "In the old kid kits, you'll find highlighters, spiral notebooks, rulers, protractors."

Sponsors of the nonprofit usually buy supplies for the organization in bulk, but because of COVID-19, Back 2 School Illinois has lost a lot of funding.

"We are struggling," Kurtzman said. "We have challenges with a lot of corporate sponsors (and) companies who said they had to stop supporting some non-profits because they had to keep their employees on payroll."

Now, the organization needs people from all over the state to help purchase school supplies, but most importantly, the organization needs help giving these kids something money can't buy - encouragement.

"Many of the kids that get our kits come from challenging circumstances," Kurtzman said. "Not just financial, but they may be foster kids, living in a homeless shelter or they might just come from a home where the parents aren't that available."

The Administrator for Back 2 School Illinois, Susanne Mickey, said the goal is for every student who receives a school supplies kit to also receive a note of inspiration.

"It's very simple," Mickey said. "We send you the paper, and anybody and everybody can write a personal note to a child, whether it's a kindergartner or a high-schooler, just to put a smile on their face."

Anyone interested in writing a note or donating to purchase school supplies can visit Back 2 School's website here.