Annual school supply giveaway event at Immokalee High School

Author: Camila Pereira Writer: Bryanna Sterzenbach
Published: Updated:

Back to school can be a little nerve-wracking for the kids, but also for the parents! Especially when they get that long school supply list they need to shop for.

However, one annual event is helping families get prepared by giving away free backpacks and more.

WINK News reporter Camila Pereira was at Immokalee High School where people were starting to line up before 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Over three hours of standing in line…And waiting.

That’s what hundreds of families in Immokalee did in the early hours of Saturday, just days before the first day of school because the need is great.

Apart from backpacks filled with school supplies, Lipman Family Farms along with other local nonprofits will be giving out shoes, bikes, gift cards and even free haircuts on Saturday morning.

The Director of Community and Government Relations with Lipman Family Farms, Jaime Weisinger said “We knew that back to school was a very stressful time for families, and so when we came up with the idea of backpacks, we didn’t understand how much need there really was, until you put an event like this on it, and you see the response from the community.”

And for 14 years now, Lipman Family Farms has known how great the need is here and that it’s growing.

They’ve given away nearly 18,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to elementary and middle school students in the area.

“Things are expensive these days, and anything, any little bit helps. And so if we can help support those kids, and they’re coming to school prepared, and who doesn’t remember loving getting new school supplies, these kids are going to be so excited to start school,” said Leslie Ricciardelli, the Superintendent of the Collier County Public School District.

All for students to go back to school feeling ready and comfortable.

But it’s also for their families, the extra supplies are a huge help for them too, saving them what would have been hundreds of dollars in school supplies and back-to-school necessities.

It’s a relief for families as they go into the new school year.

Lipman Family Farms is hoping to help out as many families as possible from 9 a.m. to noon.

They gave away about 1,800 backpacks and as many resources as they had available.

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