Kern County DCSS partnered with more than 75 community partners that deliver a wide-range of services to local families, including mental health, Fresno Pacific University, both Boy and Girl Scouts, Health and Human Services, CalFRESH and more.
More than 2,600 people attended the event held at the Kern County Fairgrounds offered free haircuts, face painting, dental services, hula hoop contests and vaccinations.
“The event really offered everything families would need to get their kids ready for school,” said Marcus Mitchell, Director of Kern County DCSS.
Dozens of sponsors have joined the popular event since it started seven years ago. “It’s grown from being held in a parking lot to expanding to the fairgrounds,” said Mitchell. Some of the sponsors include Kern County Bar Association Charitable Foundation, Kern County Federal Credit Union, Kern Family Health Care, KERO-TV ABC 23, Azteca Bakersfield, Canteen and Scott Family Foundation.
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to host the successful three-hour event. To pull it off, Kern County delegates committees that come together from different areas within DCSS, spearheaded by Tracy Salerno, Marketing Associate at Kern County DCSS.
“We’ve got it down to a fine science and the staff that put it together do a fantastic job,” said Mitchell.
In addition to organizing the event, Kern County employees also raise the funds through employee fundraisers and community partnership donations. Kern County staff solicited donations and donated money themselves and even worked after-hours to stuff the backpacks.
There were Walmart and Costco gift cards handed out, water and snacks were provided free-of-charge, music and games for kids were provided by Reach for Greatness and a “selfie” challenge using social media made the event even more interactive and entertaining for kids. “My favorite part is watching the children get their backpacks,” said Mitchell. “It’s rewarding to see the pride on their face and how excited they were to be able to choose their own backpack.”
Each child that attended was given a backpack. Kern County DCSS even handed out one backpack if the parent attended but the child was not there.
In addition to the Kern County Fairgrounds event, there was an event in Ridgecrest that included 34 community partners where more than 500 backpacks were given away. Kern County DCSS also reaches out to eight smaller communities in the area through the local libraries where backpacks were handed out on first-come, first-served basis.
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By: Dana Simas
Communications Director
CA Dept. of Child Support Services
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