Partner Spotlight
Terakeet & Cause For The Cuse
A Syracuse company and its employee-founded charity have helped put backpacks on the shoulders of local students — and they are standing with us again for the 2026 Youth Day Celebration & Backpack Giveaway.
Who they are
Terakeet is a Syracuse-based marketing company. In 2013, its employees founded Cause For The Cuse, a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to students in the Syracuse City School District. Every year the Terakeet team runs its own fundraising events and puts the proceeds directly into school supplies, technology, and educational resources for local children.
- 2013Cause For The Cuse founded by Terakeet employees
- 20,000+Syracuse students supported
- 30Syracuse-area schools reached
Why it matters here
The children Cause For The Cuse serves are the same children who line up at Meachem Field every August. Our Annual Youth Day Celebration & Backpack Giveaway sends every registered student home with a backpack and a full set of grade-appropriate school supplies — and it runs entirely on the generosity of partners like Terakeet.
Their support helps us cover:
- Backpacks and grade-appropriate school supplies for every registered student
- Food, music, and a free full day of celebration for families
- On-site community partners offering clothing, health, and education resources
- Year-round distribution that continues after the main event, so no child is left behind
A partnership that keeps showing up
In August 2025, when we ran low on backpacks partway through the giveaway, Terakeet stepped up — Cause For The Cuse donated $10,000 so that no child went home empty-handed. The story was covered by syracuse.com.
Terakeet is listed among our Youth Day Celebration sponsors year after year, and Cause For The Cuse continues to support the Mary Nelson Youth Center alongside other Syracuse organizations working with local students. That kind of steady, repeated commitment is what allows us to plan bigger each year and promise families that the doors will be open again come August.
On behalf of every student who walks away from Meachem Field ready for the first day of school: thank you, Terakeet and Cause For The Cuse.