By County Commissioner Bryan Nelson
This year we hosted the 2016 Annual Back to School Fair in Apopka, FL at the John Bridges Community Center. I would like to say thank you to the John Bridges Advisory Council for helping to coordinate and put together this event for the Apopka community. This backpack giveaway assisted local families in the Apopka community who needed essential school supplies for their students.
Our goal was to ensure that all families and their school-aged students receive a fair shot at making the 2016-2017 school year a complete success! Each backpack featured essential school supplies which included; 1 ruler, 3 folders, 1 blunt scissor, 24 pack of Crayons, 10 #2 pencils, 8 count pack of markers, 1 large glue stick, 1 wedge eraser, 1 pencil sharpener, 100 page composition notebook, and a 150 count of filler paper.
This year we gave away 807 backpacks to the local community.
Not only did we give away backpacks thanks to the help of our sponsors, but also there were nurses on-site from Florida Hospital Centra Care in Apopka who gave free blood glucose screenings to all who attended the fair. The nurses were able to discover 14 individuals who are pre-diabetic or diabetic.
Orange County Fire and Rescue provided free blood pressure screenings.
Vendors shared valuable information regarding education opportunities for youth, job opportunities, how to find a primary care physician, mentoring opportunities for youth in the community, volunteer opportunities for those looking to give back, health concerns and so much more.
Pedro from Downtown Barbers and his team of professionals gave free haircuts to over 50 kids while others received coupons for free haircuts. Hair Design Institute supplied free haircut coupons for parents to take students to their salon.
Entertainment was provided by GreenHouse Music DJ’s. The kids even played a few rounds of basketball on the courts and the younger kids enjoyed playing on the playground all located at the John Bridges Community Center.
We received food donations from the Davis Lodge #47 and Beehive Lodge #779 who not only donated hotdogs, and other food but also grilled the food for all who attended the Back to School Fair.
Our volunteers included DaySpring Church and St. A.M.E. Paul Church which both assist members of our community daily. City Year of Orlando which is an AmeriCorps group that works with youth in Orange County Schools as mentors, tutors and teacher assistants also volunteered. Lanes, the Boys and Girls Club, and HSC II Parent Awareness are several mentoring groups that also volunteered their time facilitating this event.
Several teachers who work in Apopka schools volunteered their time registering parents and assisting us for the event.
We would like to give a special thanks to our gold sponsor; Sam’s Club in Apopka and hope to have all sponsors, donors, and volunteers take part again next year.
It was an honor to be a part of a collaborative effort of the community to help us meet the needs of our school aged children.
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