Buffalo (WBEN) -- As of Friday morning, August 24, a local backpack distribution project has benefited more than 6,500 students in the Buffalo area. 

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo on Friday held a cookout at the Babcock Clubhouse at 282 Babcock St. to celebrate the backpack distribution.

This year's goal was to provide 5,000 children in Western New York with the supplies needed to start the school year, but, as of Friday, more than 6,500 students had benefited, according to Diane Rowe with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo. 

"...to make sure that as many children as possible who needed school supplies could have them, so they could start the school year feeling good about themselves, have the needed supplies, feel like I can go to school, I can participate, I have everything that I need to be able to be successful," Rowe says.

The students attending the Friday event recited a pledge to work hard in school, focus, and be prepared to learn.