It takes a village to outfit 1000 kids for school

PTA volunteers are ready to check people in
Photo from The WORKS

The Back to School event Saturday, August 26, 2017 handed out backpacks full of school supplies. They had gently used clothing and winter coats for families to choose. They supplied packages of new underwear, socks, and hygiene supplies. Hairdressers gave haircuts.

They were in a new location this year - Ridgecrest Elementary, so they had all new logistics to figure out how to efficiently move 1000 children and their families through all the different stations.

Some of the clothing, arranged by size
Photo from The WORKS

There were booths with resource information for the families.

And when it was all over, they packed up what was left and took it to The WORKS - the PTA Council clothing room - to hand out during the year as new children enter Shoreline Schools. In a few months, the process will start all over again.

School district staff, Rain City Rotary, and other volunteers
with just a few of the 1000 backpacks that were handed out
Photo from The WORKS

The event serves a thousand children of families in the Shoreline School District who are living with a low income and/ or experiencing circumstances in their life that make it challenging to prepare their children for going back to school.

Each PTA in every Shoreline School contributes to the event. The Back To School Consortium includes Hopelink; City of Shoreline; Ronald United Methodist Church; The Works of Shoreline PTA Council; Shoreline School District and the Readiness to Learn Program; Shoreline Community Care; Center for Human Services; Turning Point and the Dale Turner Family YMCA.