City Of San Antonio: District 6 Staff Delivers 1,200 Backpacks Filled With School Supplies To 21 Elementary Schools

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

Friday, August 6, 2021

CONTACT: Victor Landa, 210-884-3429
Victor.landa@sanantonio.gov

SAN ANTONIO (August 6, 2021) – For weeks the District 6 (D6) field office at 8373 Culebra Rd. has undergone a slow transformation. It has gone from being a working office space to a storage room lined with stacks of boxes filled with school supplies. Most recently it became an active assembly line where D6 staff stuffed backpacks with three-ring binders, notebooks and filler paper, pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, scissors and glue, crayons and coloring books. It happens every year around this time and when the process is finished 1,200 students in D6 will have the supplies they need to start their new school year.

Distribution is targeted.

“The work begins in late Spring,” said Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, “when the field office staff, led by Raul Zamora and Martin Trevino, begin gathering the supplies - some from donors and others purchased directly by our office.”
Every available space was used for the task, meanwhile, the students who would receive the backpacks were identified. D6 is the fastest growing and most economically diverse district in the city. Many children who hover near the poverty line will benefit directly from the supplies.
“We have two school districts in D6,” said Councilwoman Cabello Havrda, “Northside ISD and Edgewood ISD, and counselors from both districts have helped us identify the kids and families that need help the most.”

Delivery has already begun.

Truckloads of backpacks have been delivered to NISD schools including Elrod, Cable, Mary Hull, Linton, Passmore, Meadow Village, Hatchet, Evers, Coon, Myers, Raba, Timberwilde, Knolton, Fernandez, Carson, Burke, Northwest Crossing and Brauchle. And this Saturday, August 7, at 10 AM, families from Henry B. Gonzalez, Stafford and LBJ elementary, all Edgewood ISD schools, will receive their supplies-filled backpacks at a drive through event at the Edgewood Theater of Performing Arts, at 402 Lance St.

Saturday’s backpack delivery event was originally organized as an in-person distribution, but because of new COVID-19 protocols brought on by the surge of the Delta variant the event has been changed to a drive-through format. D6 staff has prepared a festive experience with balloons and music.

“I’m looking forward to greeting all of the families at our event this Saturday,” said Councilwoman Cabello Havrda. “All 21 elementary schools in the district will receive D6 backpacks and when we’re done, we’ll start planning for 2022.”

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.