Free school supplies worth an early wake-up
Annual school supply giveaway draws hundreds to event.
As early as 3:30 a.m. Monday, families lined up at Allan Elementary School in East Austin to pick up free school supplies.
The giveaway didn’t start until 8 a.m., but gathering long before dawn has become a sort of annual tradition for parents who want to pick up free backpacks, which hold $40 in supplies and clothing, and still make it to work on time. Last year, parents were lining up as early as 2:30 a.m., organizers said.
“We live in a great city with great events like ACL and Formula One, but we have a population that can’t afford that,” said Mary Alice Carnes, communications manager with social services agency Manos de Cristo. “We don’t want their economic situation to be a hindrance to their success in school. We want them to be on the same playing field as everyone else.”
As of 11 a.m., dozens of people were still lined up in the growing summer heat along the cafeteria loading dock, waiting to get new backpacks, notebooks, pencils, crayons and school uniforms.
Jessica Benitez, who was wrangling her two boys as they rushed to the exit with their new black and blue backpacks, had been at the school for three hours, capping off her kids’ visit with a free dental checkup.
Benitez is a single mother
and said she is grateful for any help she can get.
“I work a little and it’s not enough, of course,” she said. “Anything I can do to help me get by, I go for it. My children come first in my life.”
For the past 17 years, Manos de Cristo has been giving away school supplies to low-income Central Texas families. Although the poverty rate of Travis County has fluctuated by a few percentage points over a five-year period, 21 percent of children up to 17 years old were living in poverty in 2013, according to the latest U.S. Census numbers.
In the Austin school district, close to 60 percent of students were eligible for free or reduced lunches or public assistance programs in the 2014-15 school year.
The annual back-toschool event has grown, forcing Manos de Cristo to limit the number of children it can serve to about 2,000.
Patrick Pulido, 50, passed by his alma mater Allan on Monday after dropping his children off at a nearby camp. He stopped in after seeing several cars parked and decided to volunteer. After helping children choose backpacks and school supplies, he said he remembers growing up with very little and not having such events to help his parents, who had 10 children. He said the organization is meeting a need in the region.
“I know that there are a lot of people that need help,” he said.
Switching the venue from the North Austin Events Center this year, the event is being held at Allan Elementary School at 4900 Gonzales St. Families can receive supplies every day this week from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., except Friday, when the giveaway ends at 10:30 a.m.
For more information, visit manosdecristo.org/ BTS2015.html.