Back to School Shopping Spree for 100 Kids

Three local service clubs and volunteers took 100 youth from Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands-Riverside back-to-school shopping on Saturday, Aug. 7. Kiwanis Club of Redlands-Noon, the Kiwanis Club of San Bernardino and the Redlands Elks Lodge paid for the youth to each get $100 worth of clothes, shoes, socks and other essentials at Kohl’s in Redlands. A service club or community volunteer was paired with each young person and accompanied them around the store. All adults and youth in the store wore masks and used hand sanitizer. “This is an event that the Kiwanis Club holds as very important,” said Kiwanis Club of Redlands-Noon secretary Donna Ferracone. “Our members really like the experience of shopping with the kids and seeing the smiles on their faces as they buy things for school. It’s one of things we’re very happy to support and we look forward to it every year.” The Redlands club, which has participated in the shopping spree since it started, paid for 50 kids. The San Bernardino Kiwanis paid for 30 kids and Redlands Elks paid for 20 kids. “The back-to-school shopping spree is one of the most popular grants we do; it turns out more Elks than any other grants and the reason behind that is if you can help kids … and see their expressions, it’s a priceless good feeling,” said Elks member Sam Trad. The Elks Lodge pays for the 20 kids with a grant from the Elks National Foundation. In addition to the shopping spree, each child and teen got a backpack filled with school supplies. “As always, the Kiwanis Club of San Bernardino was extremely thrilled to help with the shopping spree this year,” said club president Elizabeth Silvius. “After more than a year of doing fundraising and virtual service to the community, we were very excited to get back into our community … We had an excellent time with the kids and look forward to helping again next year.” Club senior vice president Mark Davis said that with the challenges of a year of pandemic distance learning, “we wanted to make sure that our members who need it most are prepared for a successful school year. And we couldn’t do it without the generosity of Kiwanis and Elks.” A donation from iHerb helped pay for the backpacks and school supplies. For more local news and information click here.