Back(pack) to school Burton Grandparents give away over 200 packs
Lines were out the door Friday morning with parents and kids patiently waiting to enter the Jim Maples Academy (JMA) cafeteria for the Burton Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group’s anticipated backpack giveaway.
Thanks to the group’s efforts, many children from the community are getting free school gear to begin the new school year on the right foot.
“I think the event is giving a lot of parents an extra hand for their kids to be ready to start school. It’s really hard to buy backpacks and all of the school supplies, especially for single moms and dads,” said Denise Carson, founder of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. “We try to help everybody that
has a need. It’s just not for grandparents who have kids, but for everyone in the community.”
Carson moved to Porterville four years ago from Corona, where she was part of an active grandparents group with her grandson’s school.
She was invited by Jim Maples Academy Principal Mitzie Styles to give her input on how to increase parent involvement at the school’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) meeting. When she shared
experiences with the school about her grandparents group in Corona, Burton School District Superintendent Sharon Kamberg liked the idea so much she recommended it should be a district-wide group, not just at JMA.
“Denise has so much passion in what she does, and it’s contagious,” Sharon Kamberg, Burton School District superintendent said. “We see there is a need for resources, and this gives us an opportunity to reach one more part of our population.”
The community was a great help in this year’s event as 36 organizations donated and made a total of 216 backpacks available for students. The backpacks were filled with notebooks, scissors, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, and more.
“We want to help families in need. We do not want kids to feel left out, we want them to be ready for the new school year to begin,” said Anthony Martin. BSD director of support services.
When parents and kids walked into the event, they had to sign in and grab a passport, then go around to the booths and get it signed off. Once they visited every booth, they would go and get their backpacks.
Community members, shops and organizations were there giving out school supplies, doing face painting, and handing out information. Porterville Public Library donated 250 books this year, Save Mart donated watermelons, and the Tulare County Sheriff Department was displaying their drone.
Howard Carson, Denise’s husband, was also on hand to show his support.
“This is wonderful. We have been all about children our whole lives and also about giving back to the community,” he said.
The first year of the event, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren started with a goal of giving away 100 backpacks, the second year they gave away 150 backpacks, and Friday they gave away a little over 200.
“Next year we might increase the give away to 250,” Carson explained.
With help from the public library, this year’s giveaway also featured a pick-a-book table and a planting station where kids could plant a seed to take home and watch grow.
“My face lights up when that first kid comes through that door and starts going through these tables and sees Minnie Mouse greeting them and giving them their backpacks,” Carson said. “It really just fills my heart.”
Daisy Flores, mom of Denise Flores, said she is thankful for the help they received from the event.
“My girl got books and it is really great. That way she is able to read until school starts,” Flores said. “We also got food and a lot of school materials in her backpack.”
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support group has lots of projects coming up. For more information give them a call at (951) 2135644.