Linda Milano, owner of CFB Promotional Products of Sicklerville, designed a clear backpack that will be part of a “pilgrim pack” and distributed to all registrants who are attending the World Meeting of Families Congress.
Linda Milano, who attends Our Lady of Peace Parish in Williamstown, founded CFB last year after receiving encouragement from her husband, Chris, and her father, who is now deceased.
The idea for the clear backpack came from Milano’s being in the promotional products industry for 17 years and also from seeing the high level of security that is now commonplace in many stadiums and arenas.
Of the backpack, Milano said: “It’s large enough where people can carry a decent amount of stuff. Hopefully, it will allow people to get through security lines a lot faster by easing up on some of the hassles for the event because the event is meant to be fun.”
She hopes that the backpack will make it more convenient for pilgrims to travel around and carry their belongings.
Milano wanted to clarify that she is merely a promotional products distributor. She said with a laugh: “I’m not physically sewing 15,000 backpacks. As a distributor, I work with factories. My company is pretty much a service business.”
When asked what it will feel like when she will see so many people walking around Philadelphia toting the backpack she designed, she said: “This project was a confirmation that I am on the right path and that I am doing what God wants me to do. The windows just opened up and the pieces just fell into place. This project kind of gave me confirmation that I am doing the right thing.”
She remembered sitting in on a meeting and hearing the details of the project and the number of people who are expected on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Milano said: “I think at that moment, the reality that I am a participant in this event was very humbling. The feeling is awe-inspiring and rewarding all at the same time.”
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