Students Receive Backpacks Due To Donations
Volunteers help distribute backpacks during Tuesday’s Back to School Fair.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The cars were lined up around the stadium at the Lacey Complex on Tuesday afternoon. Students received a backpack filled with the needed supplies for the upcoming year.
The backpacks were made possible with the help of many volunteers, donors, and coordination. “The community stepped up and said this is important, and we want to see it happen,” said Michella Friesen, Executive Director of the United Way of Mahaska County, who helped coordinate the effort.
There were 615 pre-filled backpacks ready to help kids enjoy their first day of school on August 24th, 2020.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, this year’s backpack distribution was much different than before.
Parents and students remained in their car, following directions to pull up to the appropriate stations. After an initial greeting by the schools to welcome the students and parents, the car would pull up to the next station. Once there, volunteers would hand out the grade-appropriate backpack to every student that was registered. Students in preschool through high school were eligible.
The next station gave the opportunity for a new pair of shoes for 300 students.
The next stop was a box of food filled with healthy fruits and vegetables courtesy of the Food Bank of Iowa.
The Oskaloosa Police Department, Oskaloosa Fire Department, and Mahaska County Emergency Management were also available to answer any questions. The big red fire truck often turned into a photo op for many.
Leading up to the distribution, Penn Central Mall held their annual sculpture contest to show off some creativity and raise money for the needed supplies.
“Cargill is our main sponsor for the event,” Friesen said. “But the community is really helpful. We have tons of William Penn students here throughout the day. They set up our tents for us. They’re helping volunteer; they helping do traffic control; they are here until the end. That’s very cool.”
Cheyenne Jaquez is the marketing and events coordinator at Penn Central Mall and oversaw this year’s sculpture competition, now in its fourth year.
This year’s theme was ‘Bucket of Junk.’ Each team got a bucket of random junk to make something interesting. Those junk items may include paper and pen, and other items, “hopefully made something interesting out of it to promote the arts and raise funds for the back to school fair.”
Each participant paid a $50 entry fee, which was given to Mahaska County United Way to offset the cost of supplies.
The 2020 Sculpture Contest winner was Wyndell Campbell State Farm, and they recently stopped by the Mall to claim their prize.
