Thousands of families attended the 19th Tarrant County Back-to-School Roundup on Friday at Tarrant County Community College’s South Campus in Fort Worth.
Kids came out ready and excited to get school supplies, books, haircuts, health screenings and a chance to get one of 200 laptops that Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages was giving away.
“We’ve been here sponsoring this event since its inception, and we will continue to be here,” said Rodney Hill, a sales manager at Fossil Creek Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages. “We feel it’s no better way to give back to our community than to invest in the future of our youth.”
Elizabeth Lozano and her four kids got in line at 6:30 a.m. to ensure that they would be able to receive the free supplies, including the computer her daughter received.
Lozano’s daughter, Erika Garcia, an 11th grade student who is taking AP classes, said that the new laptop would help her study better.
“We always come every year,” Lozano said. “It helps a lot especially as a low-income person, it helps a lot.”
The event took over a large portion of the campus, both indoors and outdoors, with $70,000 worth of beverages placed in coolers to keep people hydrated in the heat.
Joel Contreras said the event took away some of the financial stress of having a family of six.
“We do have three little boys who are ready to go back to school,” Contreras said. “And, you know, right now, supplies and all that, it’s kind of high, so the haircut will help a lot right now.”
Rosa Cruz and her daughter, Bridgette Mendoza, who will be starting the fifth grade, said this was the fourth year they’ve attended the event.
“So, it’s a really good opportunity, because you know how expensive everything is right now, so it helps a bit,” Cruz said. “If they give you a whole box of the supplies that you need and they have a lot of all these little spots where you can learn about dental health. So it’s a little bit of everything that it helps you out, a lot of information.”
Erin Beasley, nurse manager for the immunization department at Tarrant County Public Health, said an important part of prevention is giving parents an opportunity to vaccinate their children and overcome some of the barriers they face.
“Our biggest goal is to make sure that we’re providing safety from those vaccine preventable diseases while those kids are in school, because they’re in large classrooms,” Beasley said.
This was one of two vaccination events the Tarrant County Public Health Department held on Friday. The other event was at First United Methodist Church of Hurst. A third Vaccination clinic will be Aug. 11-16 at Ridgemar Mall in Fort Worth to accommodate more families who want to vaccinate their kids.
Fort Worth Superintendent Karen Molinar said in her opening remarks that the district is ready to welcome students back.
“Fort Worth ISD is so honored to be part of this event today, because preparation is so important for our students and our families, and today is the first day that they’re getting their school supplies, they’re getting their immunizations, and they are going to be ready for the first day of school, whether you go to Fort Worth ISD or another school in Tarrant County.”
Comments