Agoura Mayor Delivers Backpacks And Food To Children In Need

AGOURA HILLS, CA — School may be online for now, but kids still need school supplies. And they always love the Rams.

On Tuesday, Agoura Hills Mayor Ilece Buckley Weber dropped off donated Rams backpacks full of school supplies to the children of families who visit the Beth Emunah Messianic Synagogue’s Food Bank. In partnership with Karin Foreman, who helps run the food bank, Buckley Weber also helped distribute fresh food - which Buckley Weber said was “some of the nicest I’ve ever seen” – to more than 150 families.

The backpacks and school supplies were donated from the Bridge Evangelical Free Church in Newbury, and the Los Angeles Rams, according to Amy Brink, Agoura Hills director of community services. Brink said that the food is donated through Food Share of Ventura County, which helps distribute fresh, healthy food to people in need.

Buckley Weber collaborated with the Las Virgenes Unified School District to distribute the backpacks at A.E. Wright Middle School, and the food was distributed at the synagogue. Kids later came with their parents to pick the backpacks up.

Buckley Weber donates backpacks full of school supplies each year right before school starts, though she’s usually able to meet the kids in person.

“Last year we had a big hoopla at the Mamba Academy, and the Rams mascot was there, and we got to personally meet the kids and there was food and we handed out backpacks, so this year was not as much fun, but it was still needed,” Buckley Weber said.

“If you have one child who needs food or who need school supplies, then we’ve got to meet that need,” said Buckley Weber, who added that many students in the Las Virgenes District experience financial insecurity. “We want a diverse community, and we want to help people who need it.”