FELLSMERE — The weather held out long enough for 915 students to line up and snag a brand new backpack filled with paper, folders, pencils and other school supplies at Operation Hope’s 10th annual Back to School Backpack Giveaway.
“I love it. I love it!” founder Jesse Zermeno said as volunteers continued to stuff supplies into the last-minute backpacks that arrived in the final hours leading up to the event.
Two days prior, Zermeno said Operation Hope had received about 600 backpacks and expressed concerns about having enough for all the kids. A last minute push helped fulfill the organization’s goal of having at least 800.
“We were worried,” volunteer organizer Eugene Wolff Jr., of Sebastian River High School, said of being able to help the children go back to school with the things they need to start off the school year right.
Wolff said that the volunteers had started working on the event about two months ago – but the last couple days leading up to it is “really crunch time.”
“It’s a lot of fun,” Wolff said of helping with the event. “It’s great to see the faces on the children when they get their backpack. It’s very enjoyable.”
One mom, who declined to be identified, said that if not for Operation Hope’s Backpack Giveaway, her two step-children wouldn’t be heading back to school with supplies.
She explained that she and her husband just got custody of his children, ages 8 and 10. As such, her husband’s paycheck hasn’t been adjusted from child support.
“It means a lot,” the mom said of being able to equip the boys with the tools they need for school. “They’ll be happy to have all new supplies.”
Grandmother Vivian Lemelle, of Fellsmere, brought her grandson, Cornelius Robinson, to Operation Hope to get a new backpack – a first for the second-grader at Liberty Magnet Elementary School.
He said he is excited about having a new backpack to carry his books and homework in.
“It means a great deal,” Lemelle said of having an event such as Operation Hope’s Backpack Giveaway.
Lemelle said she doubted her grandson would have been going back to school with supplies and a backpack if not for the event, explaining that Robinson just went through a growth spurt that necessitated all new clothes.
Zermeno said that the annual event can only happen through the community’s support and generosity. Along with LoPresti Aviation of Sebastian, the Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach, and IMS Partners Inc. of Palm Bay, Walmart and Publix helped out by donating boxes upon boxes of breads, fruits, vegetables and desserts to be handed out to the families.
“Without these people, this wouldn’t happen,” Zermeno said of the sponsors and supporters.
