As a mom, Ana Cervantes worries about the well-being of her kids, especially at the start of the school year. She says she wants to be sure they feel comfortable, confident and accepted in their classrooms.
That includes having new clothes, shoes and a backpack full of the supplies they need to help them learn. It’s also why Cervantes stood in line Tuesday, for CCPC’s annual Back 2 School Basics Program at the Junction Commons outlet mall.
“With this program they help you financially, to buy every day clothes and shoes, they help a lot,” said Cervantes.
Every participating child received a backpack and a $100 gift card to use at the outlet stores, where the Christian Center of Park City set up a storefront to hand out supplies on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7.
“This is a great way to ease that burden of getting your children in school ready to learn, and takes that stress off those parents,” said Matt Melville, Director of Programs at CCPC.
Overall, 1,400 kids from both Wasatch and Summit counties enrolled in the program this year. Six hundred kids signed up from Wasatch County and 800 from Summit.
Cervantes, who is from Heber, was at the event for the second time, and had two of her children in tow. They were among hundreds of excited families who visited the storefront, where volunteers handed out colorful school supplies like lunchboxes, colored pencils, markers, notebooks, highlighters and pencil cases.
Some stores like Columbia, Volcom and Merrell helped families stretch the gift card dollars by providing additional discounts, and tax free purchases.
“This big production wouldn't be possible without literally over 100 different volunteers, numerous businesses that hosted our donation boxes, and then hundreds of financial donations from community members,” said Melville.
When the program began a few years ago, CCPC was set up in the mall parking lot and was handing out second-hand backpacks and school supplies. That changed three years ago, when the mall owner donated a storefront. Since then, the number of donations has grown, so more resources are available to families.
“The main thing is it's grown a ton,” said Valeria Cruz, Heber Pantry Assistant Manager.
Cruz says that each family’s needs fluctuate, depending on what kind of pressures they are experiencing, like the pandemic in 2020.
“Because of the immigration of people that are migrating to the US and to our counties, specifically, we have seen a huge increase. I understand from our Wasatch School District, there has been like a jump of 25% in each one of their schools,” said Valeria Cruz.
The program serves both long standing community members as well as newcomers, like Jennifer Andrade and her four children who arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela last November.
“It’s hard because there’s four kids, and we don’t have jobs, so it’s a great help for those who don’t have resources,” said Andrade.
Andrade now lives in Heber. Her kids will attend classes on three different Wasatch School District campuses for the first time this fall.
She says she hopes her kids will learn English and progress in school. “For me, that’s happiness,” Andrade adds.
As of Aug. 5, CCPC had not reached its fundraising goal but was still able to provide hundreds of children with backpacks and gear to help them start the school year ready to learn.
“I believe that every child deserves to walk into school with that, with their head up high and feeling confident and understanding that they are part of this as much as anyone else,” said Cruz.
Melville says that donations are still being accepted.
For more information about the Back 2 Basics program visit ccofpc.org
