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ABCUSD COMMUNITY DRIVE TO PROVIDE BACKPACKS FOR HOMELESS OR LOW INCOME STUDENTS STILL IN NEED OF FUNDS

BACKPACKS TO BE STUFFED, DELIVERED AUGUST 28, 2014

Providing backpacks and school supplies for all ABCUSD students as the new school year begins is a goal of the ABC Education Foundation, which will kick off its annual Backpacks for Homeless or Low Income Students drive on August 28, 2014 from 8 a.m. to noon at Willow Elementary School’s new Community Resource Center, at Alburtis and 205th Street in Lakewood. Staff volunteers from Los Cerritos Center, LBS Financial Credit Union, Broadview Mortgage and Century 21 ASTRO will join community volunteers to stuff backpacks with school supplies and deliver them to all ABC schools that day. Cerritos-based First Choice Bank staff will be providing 100 backpacks filled with school supplies to Cerritos schools and will be delivering these backpacks on that date as well. Staff from Kaiser Permanente Downey and the City of Hawaiian Gardens will be dropping off backpacks and school supplies to the Willow Community Center that day as the community rallies to support homeless or low income students before the first day of school. ABC’s Regional PTA Council and the Macerich Corp/Los Cerritos Center provided much-needed funds for school supplies for the backpacks.

“Thanks to this generous ABC community, we have been able to provide hundreds of backpacks each year,” said MarkAnthony Ruiz of Century 21 ASTRO and co-chair of the Foundation’s Backpack Initiative. “I don’t think the community realizes that ABC families continue to struggle in these challenging economic times” he stated. “We want every child to start with the materials he or she needs to succeed in school,” adds Chris Apodaca, Director of Business Development for Broadview Mortgage and co-chair of the Foundation’s Backpack initiative. Community members or businesses who wish to help with the Backpack Initiative may drop off or send checks in any amount to the ABC Education Foundation, c/o Laura Lowe, 16700 Norwalk Boulevard, Cerritos, CA 90703, or they may come to the Willow Community Center located at 11733 E. 205th Street, Lakewood on August 28th between 8 a.m. to noon.

The ABC Education Foundation provides fundraising and resources support for the ABCUSD students, staff and schools. See www.abcedfoundation.org. ABCUSD serves nearly 22,000 students at 30 school sites.