Thank you for being a part of this year’s Start Out Right backpack event.  It was a huge community partnership success!

As you know we have a passion to reach out directly to our Casino Road neighbors and make sure these kids have what they need to start the school year out right.  Well over 3,000 people showed up on that sunny Saturday morning.  (It is good to know that word of mouth and personal invites still work!)  As we shook hands and looked into their eyes it was obvious that our target audience was being reached. 

In total, we gave out over 1,700 bags and supplies to families that were in need.  In total for this event we spent $16,182.87 plus in kind donation.  Of the 1,388 students we got accurate information from 842 of them attend the schools we were partnering with.  Overall, less than 100 students lived outside of Everett.

This of course all happened because our community decided to partner together to make a difference.  You can be very proud to know that all entities of our neighborhood were represented.  Individuals, businesses, apartment complexes, civic groups, churches, government agencies, and most importantly our school leaders who set aside time, resources and enthusiasm to see that this event was successful.

Two statistics we cannot count are the endless volunteer hours given this past year. Hundreds of people rallied together, some for the day of the event and others throughout   the year.  How smoothly it ran on Saturday morning was proof of their diligent work.

The other statistic we cannot quantify is the impact you made on each individual family.  The last backpacks we gave out were to a Ukrainian mother of nine.  We originally told her we were sorry that we were out of packs.  She stood at her car for at least ten minutes, as we were cleaning up, shaking her head in disbelief that she had missed the opportunity to get backpacks for her children.  And then we realized that that we had ten backpacks buried in a car right next to hers.

And then we had one left, and as it is with most things in life, it always comes back to the one.  The one little girl that walks away with a smile on her face.  The one very grateful father that has a trail of kids behind him like a flock of ducks.  The one school principal that gets to greet over half of her students before school is even in session.  The one dollar given by a young boy so that others could get school supplies. 

Thanks again for partnering with us as we serve the community.