Newark Kids Kick Off School Year with New Backpacks

A bright smile broke out on three-year-old Chelsea Chambers' face, albeit smeared with red cupcake frosting, as she proudly showed off her brand new pink princess backpack at Newark City Hall Friday.

The little girl was one of hundreds of children to receive a free knapsack at the second annual back-to-school bookbag giveaway, organized by Earl "The Street Doctor" Best, Maurice Bethea, Fahiym Muhammad, the Newark Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union Local 617.

"I'm just numb. To see the smile on faces ... Seeing everyone regardless or race, creed and color," said Best, an to become one of Newark's most recognizable community activists.

Best and his crew doled out 500 backpacks - 300 "The Princess and the Frog" bags and 200 featuring "Captain America" - Friday afternoon, four days before the first day of school in Newark. In less than an hour, the supply of backpacks, and 100 notebooks, were exhausted.

"It's a very nice event when people are philanthropic like that," said Sharonne Chambers, whose daughter Chelsea Chambers who will return to pre-school Tuesday at Unified Vailsburg Services Organization in the city's West Ward.

Newark residents came in droves to the giveaway last year, when organizations like Bethea's Urban Upliftment, a real estate firm based in Irvington, collaborated with Best to hand out 1,000 backpacks purchased from a wholesale distributor. The event has been so successful that Bethea said Irvington plans on hosting one of its own.

"We're giving kids some kind of inspiration," said Bethea, who grew up in Newark's Ivy Hill section. "We need to take care of our kids so they have opportunities in their lives."

The backpack giveaway is a growing trend in Newark, with the Clinton Hill Community Resource Center during a rainy day in late August.

Joseph Del Grosso, president of the Newark Teacher's Union, said Thursday the giveaway was a great way to kick off the school year in Brick City. The event also underlined to parents and children the importance of a good education, he said.

"I think that's what really is the building block and foundation of what will make Newark prosperous again, just like the rest of the country," said Del Grosso. "To look at children and to see the smiles they give you is worth everything to me and it is to all of the teachers in this school district."