“What color would you like?” was one of the first questions volunteers asked kids Saturday morning when families picked up free backpacks from the Back to School Celebration of Rhode Island (BTSCRI) nonprofit outside Cranston’s YMCA. Site Coordinator Lammis Vargas said cars lined up half an hour before the drive-by event began. In just one hour, the nonprofit handed out 600 backpacks and school supplies so kids could begin school with the essentials.

BTSCRI celebrated its 23rd anniversary of delivering backpacks to kids this past weekend. Jorge Cardenas and Melvin Bell founded this program in 1999 where they handed out school supplies to 600 students at the West End Community Center. Today, the organization has expanded to dispersing 16,000 backpacks to Rhode Island students across 12 community sites.

“The backpack may physically carry notebooks and pencils, but if you’re a parent, that backpack is carrying your hopes and dreams,” said Dr. Andrew Saal of Providence Community Health Centers (PCHC) at Saturday’s press conference outside PCHC’s Atwood Avenue location.

The pink, purple, green, blue and black backpacks were filled with folders, notebooks, pencils, pens, highlighters, markers, hand sanitizer, a pencil sharpener and a pencil holder. Cranston’s drive-by site consisted of 25 volunteers from OneCranston HEZ, BankRI, Neighborhood Health Plan, the Department of Health, Cox Cable, Cranston YMCA and high schoolers in need of community service hours. Together, they filled backpacks onsite and rapidly distributed them to families. Vargas said by 11 a.m., the Cranston location was out of supplies and volunteers guided families to alternative distribution sites.

“There are still families trying to keep their heads above water,” said Vargas, who talked about how much the school supplies could assist families.

Grace Gonzalez, board chair for BTSCRI, said the costs and availability of products impacted the organization, but it was through the help of sponsors that they successfully pulled off this year’s event.

In past years the day was filled with educational information, resources, entertainment, food and music; due to Covid safety concerns, the nonprofit decided to host a drive-by event.

“It is our hope next year that we can resume our normal back to school celebration activities,” said Gonzalez.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza attended the Atwood Avenue press conference Saturday and said he has supported the event from the beginning. Elorza added that the backpack makes such a big difference because kids have the tools and equipment they need to succeed – giving a boost to their confidence.

“We don't want any kid thinking they are less than or lacking in some important way, and you're filling in that potential void,” said Elorza.

He added that next year he’d be back with his own son to collect his backpack for kindergarten.

Superintendent of Providence Public Schools Javier Montanez shared his experience as a Providence student – recalling the days where he had to worry about where his next meal would come from, along with his appearance and wondering if he had the tools in order to go to school.

“You may know what you’re doing but not understand how you’re reaching the hearts of many students in our communities,” said Montanez. “We want to be able to give our students the opportunity to be successful because they are our next mayors, our next superintendents, our next elected officials.”

The nonprofit and sponsors recognized that cost of living expenses – such as rent, food, transportation and clothing – has all increased and may put a strain on families who are seeking to purchase back to school items.

“A backpack and school supplies may seem like a small gesture, but helping the children of our community to be their best, prepared in confident is critically important to their success at the start of school and in life,” said Larry Warner, chief impact and equity officer at United Way of Rhode Island.

Operations Manager Andrew Beuttler from Sodexo added that as schools go back to normal this year, there are many children who don’t know school prior to Covid. He called upon teachers to support students and provide a strong foundation to build their hopes and dreams.

BTSCRI is an all volunteer organization that works year round. For their Back to School Celebration event this year, the organization hosted distribution sites in Cranston, Central Falls, Cumberland, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, South County, Woonsocket, and West Warwick.