Back to school means getting all the necessary supplies. Thirty kids picked up fully loaded backpacks at Catholic Charities Christ House shelter in Alexandria last week.
Families who received emergency assistance this month were notified of the “Backpack Back to School” event Aug. 18.
The back-to-school event is Christ House’s first backpack giveaway since the pandemic. Recently, the facility received donations of school supplies from two volunteers and a $1,000 donation from a parishioner at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria. Christ House used the funds to purchase backpacks, additional school supplies and treats for the event.
Following an opening prayer and song, kids opened their backpacks to discover spiral notebooks, pencils, crayons, index cards, pencil sharpeners, scissors, composition notebooks, colored pencils, gel pens and highlighters. Their enthusiasm was wonderful, said Sherri Longhill, program director for emergency assistance at Catholic Charities.
“I told them how excited we were to have them there and that this was our first back-to-school event since the pandemic, and their faces just lit up with these big smiles, both parents and children. I could tell they were really happy to be there, and hopefully that will carry over to their first day of school,” she said.
