FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (August 4, 2011) -- Holding his new black backpack in his left hand, Josiah Glover searched the center pocket for the school supplies inside.
The 10-year-old found markers, coloring pencils, erasers, a ruler and notebook paper at the bottom of the bag, which he showed to his grandmother, Cindy Gilbert.
Although pleased with the standard school supplies, Josiah raved about the day planner he received Monday, courtesy of Operation Homefront’s Back-to-School Brigade campaign.
“I can write stuff down and it can remind me of stuff I should do every morning at school,” said the 4th grader.
Josiah was one of 353 Fort Campbell school children, age kindergarten through high school, who received free backpacks full of school supplies Monday. The backpacks were handed out at the Operation Homefront Tennessee-Kentucky chapter office, located at 7104 Hedgerow Court, inside Gate 7.
Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit, provides emergency financial and other assistance to the Families of our service members and wounded warriors.
The Back-to-School Brigade campaign serves children of active-duty service members ranking private through staff sergeant. Parents registered for the program in mid-July.
Josiah and his sisters, Celeste, 8, and Selah, 6, are the children of Sarah and Spc. Jeffrey Glover, a Soldier with 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.
“Last summer was the first summer we [participated in] Operation Homefront. It was nice to kind of buffer the expense of going back to school,” Sarah Glover said. “It’s nice that people donate this stuff for us. It’s a blessing.”
Operation Homefront’s Tennessee-Kentucky chapter partnered with local and regional Dollar Trees and DEAL$ stores to collect school supply donations for the backpacks, said Tina Englen, chapter president. Items donated for the campaign included spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, notebook paper, rulers, colored pencils, calculators and erasers.
In addition to distributing the backpacks, Monday’s back-to-school event featured free cupcakes, cake, popcorn and inflatables for children and their parents to enjoy.
“It’s been busy,” said Laura Graham, executive director of the local chapter, who noted that several volunteers manned the tables in front of the office to distribute the backpacks and food.
Five-year-old Rylee Ashcraft rushed to try on her burgundy backpack, with a little help from her mother Angela and father Spc. Thomas Ashcraft. The Ashcrafts home school Rylee and their older daughters, Audrey, 7, and Nevaeh, 9.
“Being at home, having to pay for our supplies is obviously a huge burden. It’s been a great help,” Angela said of the Back-to-School Brigade campaign.
“I have notebooks and pens and pencils,” Nevaeh said about the contents of her blue backpack.
Nevaeh shared her enthusiasm for the backpacks with Dominique Headen, a fifth grader and daughter of Gabby and Staff Sgt. Tommy Headen, 1st Battalion, 506th Regimental Combat Team.
Dominique, 9, seemed equally excited about the color of the bag, as well as its contents.
“I got a black one,” Dominique said, smiling. “I didn’t want to get a pink one.”
Gabrielle Moore, 6, received a red backpack and her sister Gracelyn, 4, accepted a blue one. Then, the daughters of Elizabeth and Spc. Daniel Moore ate pieces of cake in the shade to escape the upper-90-degree heat and high humidity.
Since her husband is deployed to Afghanistan with the 801st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Elizabeth said it’s hard to shop for school supplies with two young children.
“It’s a good program,” Elizabeth said of the Back-to-School Brigade. “It’s nice that they have everything already picked out for you.”
Organizers plan to have another Back-to-School Brigade next year, which is welcome news to many Fort Campbell Families. To find out more about the Back to School Brigade or Operation Homefront, visit www.operationhomefront.net.
“They got lots of goodies,” Sarah Glover said of her children. “We’re very grateful.”
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