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Back to School Blasts coming up; volunteers are needed

Back to School Blast

Cooper Mullinax unboxed glue sticks July 23 at Packsaddle Elementary School. He and other volunteers packed backpacks with school supplies for the upcoming Back to School Blast. The Llano Independent School District event is 9AM-noon Saturday, July 27, at Packsaddle Elementary School, 150 Pioneer Lane in Kingsland. Students can pick up a backpack full of school supplies during the event. Another event for Marble Falls students is August 3. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO

Two weeks ago, Back to School Blast organizers in Marble Falls were short on needed funds to ensure 1,500 students had supplies for the 2019-20 school year.

Two weeks later, organizers are feeling very optimistic thanks to the generosity of the Highland Lakes community.

“We got our money in two weeks,” said Jennifer Hall, board president for the Back to School Blast, which holds events in Kingsland and Marble Falls.

Now, they just need volunteers as well as shoeboxes to hold the free shoes that go to the students at the events. Click the above links to visit the event webpage to volunteer. Gently used shoeboxes can be dropped off at KokoFitClub, 1400 RR 1431 in Marble Falls, from 7AM to 7PM each day until the events.

The first Back to School Blast is for Llano Independent School District students and is 9AM to noon Saturday, July 27, in the Packsaddle Elementary School gym, 150 Pioneer Lane in Kingsland. Organizers will hand out 600 backpacks full of school supplies.

The Marble Falls event is 9AM to noon Saturday, August 3, in the Marble Falls Middle School gym, 1511 Pony Circle Drive. 

Each Back to School Blast also offers free health screenings.

Families do not need to sign up in advance; supplies are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Children must be in attendance to receive backpacks, socks, and shoes. 

Volunteers are needed to fill backpacks from 9AM to noon Wednesday, July 24, at Packsaddle Elementary for the Llano ISD event. Also needed, on the day of the event, are hairstylists to give students free haircuts, people to comb students’ hair before they get their haircuts, bounce house monitors, an English-Spanish master of ceremonies, and a clean-up crew member.

In Marble Falls, only half the number of volunteers needed have signed up.

Hall said she was recently reminded of why she and the Back to School Board of Directors spend so much time organizing these events. 

A woman told her of some children showing up on the first day of school with holes in their shoes and no school supplies and filled with anxiety. Thanks to the Back to School Blasts, that’s no longer a concern, the woman added.

“We give that relief,” she said. “(Students) don’t have to be embarrassed. On the first day, they can concentrate on school and not worry about those needs.”

Go to b2sb.info/ for more information on both of the events. 

jfierro@thepicayune.com