82nd Sustainment Brigade hosts Back-to-School Bash

Photo By Staff Sgt. Amanda Tucker | Sgt. Kevin Wallace, School Resource officer, noncommissioned officer-in-charge for the 42nd Military Police Detachment, 16th MP Brigade, and Wolfeboro, N.H., native, scans Samantha Ellis' fingerprints during the 82nd Sustainment Brigade Back-to-School Bash at the 82nd SB Resource Center, Aug. 14. Ellis is an 18-month-old military child.  

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

08.15.2012

Story by Sgt. Amanda Tucker 

82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Worries hover over the heads of parents as a new school year starts. They have a long checklist to include registering for school, coordinating with after- school care, updating the children's wardrobe and tackling that dreaded school supply list.

More than 450 children from the 82nd Sustainment Brigade were able to make a large dent in their "school supply" list at the brigade's Back to School Bash in the 82nd SB Resource Center Aug. 15. Volunteers, family support program representatives and soldiers handed out free school supplies, clothes, and information to help prepare families for the school year.

Soldiers and family members started lining up outside the resource center half- an-hour before the event began. By the time the doors opened, the line was backed up to the adjacent parking lot. As children and adults filed in, the Armed Services YMCA gave out backpacks to fill with school supplies.

Diana Wright, the 82nd SB family readiness support assistant, partnered with Operation Homefront's Back-to-School Brigade as well as three local Dollar Tree stores to provide pencils, notebooks, crayons, and more.

“Events like these are great,” said Spc. Bobby Herndon an information systems operator with the 82nd Sustainment Brigade’s Sustainment Automation Support Management Office and San Diego native. “I was able to get all the school supplies I needed for my daughter.”

The Back-to-School Bash also provided free clothes that were donated to the cause. Parents could choose from sizes ranging from infant and toddler to adult clothing. They also provided a variety of seasonal clothing.

There were more than seven large tables piled with clothing before the event started. Few boxes of clothes were left over from the event. Wright said the 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will store the extras for family emergencies like fires, floods or tornadoes.

While the parents did the shopping, children had their own areas to play in. The Back-to-School Bash had one room dedicated to arts and crafts. Youth could make their own posters, give themselves fake tattoos, get their faces painted and make bookmarks. They also watched the Iron Mike puppet show, which encouraged singing and dancing with music.

The 42nd Military Police Detachment, 16th MP Bde, provided free fingerprinting for children. They scanned the children’s fingers, took their picture and uploaded the information into a document along with the child’s name, gender, and address. The MPs used printers on-hand to provide these documents to parents for quick dissemination if their child went missing.

Armed Services YMCA, American Red Cross, Army Community Service, Military and Family Life consultants, and U.S. Army Child, Youth and School Services set up booths to provide families various information about their services.

ACS handed out flyers for the Financial Readiness Program, Savings Deposit Program and a pocket slider describing stages of financial life. CYSS provided sports registration dates, child care hour points of contact, camp dates and other developmental information. The ARC played a proactive role for deploying soldiers by giving out brochures outlining all the information needed to get a “Red Cross” message to the service member in an emergency.

"It’s encouraging that people are willing to help others,” said Herndon. “Events like this help people get the materials they need so their children can be ready for school without their parents having to spend more than they can afford.”

• Date Taken: 08.15.2012
• Date Posted: 08.28.2012 13:58
• Story ID: 93922
• Location: FORT BRAGG, NC, US
• Hometown: ROLLA, MO, US
• Hometown: SAN DIEGO, CA, US