Volunteers were up and at Target in Paso Robles by 5:00 a.m. to help local families gear up for a fresh start to the school year.
The Up With Kids program began more than two decades ago with the idea of helping families in need purchase school supplies.
One volunteer says he will keep coming back to help out.
“It’s me wanting to help them even more reach their goals,” volunteer, Jay Lopez, said.
This year, 60 volunteers took over the inside and outside of Target.
“Makes me feel good that people are putting in their part here,” another volunteer, Isabel Lopez, said.
There were about 142 kids between the ages of five and twelve years old.
Each family is provided with money to go shopping, which is fundraised months in advance, with community sponsors making donations.
“They come out of the store, we give them a backpack, they walk down the line of school supplies and fill the backpack,” Fred Bruen, Up With Kids Event Coordinator said.
With a backpack to fill, kids and parents spend the morning in the store for their shopping spree.
“We do a pre-scan because we want them to get as close to $125 as possible,” Bruen said.
If they are not close to $125, Buren says they have the opinion to go back and get more.
“We send them back to get more stuff, do a final scan and then once they’re close enough, we run them through the register,” Bruen said.
Once the kids have their new school supplies, they are able to go on a free ride in the RE/MAX hot air ballon.
Bruen says over the 22 years they have been doing this, they have helped around 27,000 kids.
Families who participated in Saturday’s event were nominated through several different agencies, such as El Camino Homeless Organization, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, and the Paso Robles Housing Authority.
If you would like to learn more about Up with Kids, or make a donation,click here.
