JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Students are just weeks away from heading back to school and to help the families of men and women who’ve protected our country, First Coast YMCA and VyStar Credit Union held a back-to-school bash for them Saturday morning.
Alycia and Nathan Pouch and their son Kaden were among the hundreds of attendees who stopped by the ”Operation Salute: Military Appreciation Back to School Bash” event to get school supplies.
RELATED | 86% of parents think cost of education is out of control, new survey says
An exciting part for the little ones was picking which backpack they’d take home.
“I like the blue part because blue is my favorite color,” Noah said.
The free back-to-school event was open to all active-duty military members, veterans and their families.
Something these military families appreciated.
“We served our country, well, so this is great,” Veteran Tiffany Ashley said.
Lakeisha Featherstone, whose husband is in the military, said this event was a blessing.
“It’s really a blessing because backpacks are expensive, all the school supplies for two kids, and I’ll have a third one starting in a few years, so three children school supplies, school clothes school shoes, so yeah it’s a blessing,” Featherstone said.
MORE | Positively JAX: Nonprofit needs uniform donations for students for upcoming back-to-school party
Along with getting free school supplies, students also had a chance to have some fun like free shaved ice, playing basketball, and jumping on the bounce house.
“This event what we’re doing is we’re helping build the students of today to be our leaders of tomorrow. And what that’s going to give us is our communities of the future and create great places to live,” VyStar branch Vice President and Military Liaison Sean Dougherty said.
This event was held at different YMCAs across the First Coast. Organizers said about 1,800 members signed up for the event and they served close to 1,200 students.