Parents and K-8 school children lined up early on Saturday,
08/22/15, to receive backpacks loaded with school supplies for Kindergarten
through 8th grade children, as well as shopping bags loaded with
fresh fruit, nutrition bars and health drinks.
Earlier in the week on Monday night Lions Terry Anderson, Keith Brown and Rich Montgomery and about 15 community volunteers unpacked pallets and boxes of about 600 backpacks and numerous school supplies needed students of the various elementary schools.
More volunteers arrived early on Saturday to help prepare
the gym of the King Community Center.
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Lion Terry Anderson, Lion Joe Serafini and his wife Nancy Serafini, and Lions Stacie Dixon and Rebecca Shriver took a quick photo break from filling shopping bags with healthy fruit, juices and snacks.
Mandatory Workshops
Parents were required to attend one or more of 4 available workshops and get their children’s backpack tickets punched before they could receive their school supplies.
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| Lions Rebecca
Shriver and Stacie Dixon punched
attendance cards for parents as proof of attendance for the AVID (Advancement
Via Individual Development) college preparation workshop. |
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| School District Superintendent, Lion Mike Schiffman answers parent questions in the “Meet the Superintendent” workshop. |
Entertainment
and Physical Fitness
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| While parents attended educational workshops,
children K-8 were kept busy in the gym with wide-screen movies projected on the
gym wall, and supervised games like jump-rope. |
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| “Spin-er-cise” allowed children to spin a
roulette-style wheel with various exercises listed on it, and then pick a
partner to perform the actual fun exercises. |
Free Eye Clinic
FHN (Freeport Health Network) nurses were on hand to provide
free student eye exams.
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| Volunteer Lion Andy
Skinner closed one eye and tried read the eye exam chart. |
School Supplies Distributed
After the workshops concluded, anxious children and parents reunited
and lined up for the backpacks and healthy food bags distribution. Lions Andy Skinner, Terry Anderson, Stacie Dixon,
Rebecca Shriver and Keith Brown
and a host of Boys & Girls Club volunteers moved as fast as they could to
complete their tasks.
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| In a blur of final activity, parents of children
K-8 lined up a backpack filled with school supplies for each child listed on
their completed workshop tickets. |
About 200 backpacks were distributed to local families. The
packs and supplies were purchased using donations from local businesses and the
Freeport Lions CIub. The remaining backpacks will be given to Freeport School District schools, which will pass them on to
families in need.
For many single-parent families with multiple school-age
children it would be a hardship to purchase (all the necessary) backpacks and
school supplies that the various schools require every year.
Closing Ceremony
Former 3rd Ward Alderman, Ronnie
Bush, thanked everyone for their contributions, and introduced Freeport Mayor
Jim Gitz who praised everyone’s efforts in making the Back-To-School
Celebration an annual success for the school children and their parents.
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Ronnie Bush, Lion Andy Skinner,
Mayor Jim Gitz, Greg Briggs, Lion Rich Montgomery pose for a group photo during the outdoor festivities after the backpacks were distributed.
The Freeport Lions Club meets on the second and fourth Tuesday each month.
Our motto is "We Serve"
For more information contact (815) 541-5591. Like us? See: www.facebook.com/FREEPORTLIONS
(Freeport Lions Club publicity photos by Rich Montgomery, Publicity Committee)
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FREEPORT LIONS can donate a little less up front for their District 1D lottery
tickets and still have the same chance to win their money back in 2016 as they
did last year by purchasing a calendar.
