Each year, it feels as though school supply lists get larger and larger. For many families in our community, affording all of the back-to-school necessities can cause a financial burden. More than ever, due to the pandemic and income changes, families are not able to purchase all of the items they’re needing, therefore cutting back on certain items.
Supplying students with the necessary footwear not only helps them but helps ease the financial burden for the parents. For this reason, I sponsored a budget amendment for $10,000 to support children and their families with providing footwear to students who need it.
There were 736 pairs of footwear purchased and delivered to Title I schools at the beginning of the school year. The footwear distribution was part of Operation Back to School (OBTS). For Our City Chandler hosted the 9th Annual Operation Back to School Chandler event where there was a drive-thru style distribution of backpacks, socks and underwear, uniforms and community resource bags.
More than 41 organizations participated, sponsored or donated items for the event. OBTS collected 21,147 socks & underwear, 3,000 backpacks, 1,528 uniforms, 1,000 community resource bags and 736 shoes.
For more information, visit For Our City-Chandler.