Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
As a class of schoolchildren from Tempe’s Arredondo Elementary School exited Grand Canyon University’s Global Credit Union Arena, Robert Smith bellowed, “Wait! Everybody gets a hat, too!”
He and a group of volunteers hustled, plunging their hands into boxes lined along the exit hallway, the nondescript boxes stacked three high, then yanked out Phoenix Suns ballcaps with the words “Be Sun Safe” emblazoned on the back.
The schoolchildren hustled back, as if their feet couldn’t carry them fast enough, a spark in their eyes and a collective “WHOOAAA!!!” emanating from them, almost in unison.
Their chaperone, Paulette Driver, beamed as she watched their reaction.
She hauled a huge bag for one student who couldn’t carry it himself because it was so packed with all the items he received from the Back-to-School Clothing Drive’s New Clothes = New Beginnings distribution Monday afternoon in the arena.
The shopping extravaganza spans through Wednesday and will see an estimated 3,000 students preselected by their campuses make their way through the arena from 130 schools in 30 school districts across Maricopa County.
“It’s just wonderful,” said Driver, who was amazed about the sheer scope of the event.
She knew it was a clothing giveaway.
She knew students whose families demonstrate a need would receive free uniforms and shoes.
She didn’t know that didn’t even scratch the surface.
In that exit hallway alone, not only did the Arredondo Elementary schoolchildren load up on hats but backpacks and Girl Scout cookies – boxes upon boxes of Do-Si-Dos, Tagalongs and the like.
“It’s the first time for Girl Scout cookies,” said Smith, who has been volunteering at the New Clothes = New Beginnings distribution for 15 years.
This is a landmark year – the 10th year – that the clothing distribution event has inspired such a joyful, cacophonous atmosphere at the home of its community partner, GCU.
“Originally, the idea of coming to Grand Canyon is because we wanted to have students have an experience (on a college campus) – a higher education experience they may not otherwise have,” said Karl Gentles, Back-to-School Clothing Drive executive director.
“This event, for us, is far more than the basics we give them,” he said. “We want them to have the understanding that there is a place for them in higher education after they leave high school.
“What better place to start doing that than right here?”
Students started their shopping spree by pairing with a personal shopper, like Phoenix police reserve officer R.E. Osborn, who made a u-turn to the Stitches of Love pop-up boutique at the end of the arena.
One of the girls he accompanied whispered to him that she didn’t get everything she wanted at the shop, packed with specialty items, like lavender crocheted beanies, flippy skirts, wallets, purses and the like. There were thousands of items crafted, sewed and crocheted year-round by some 100 volunteers.
She wanted a bracelet; he wanted to make that happen.
“I love to interact with the kids,” Osborn said of why he keeps returning to volunteer. It’s his fifth time. “This is all the shopping I do,” he said with a smile. “It’s just such a positive thing. The kids’ faces just light up. There’s a need, and it’s met.”
In addition to a specialty piece of clothing, the kindergarteners through sixth graders at the distribution event stopped by other shopping departments on the arena floor to load up on uniform polo shirts, shorts, socks, underwear, belts and shoes.
And then it was up to the second floor of the arena, home of the Arizona’s Family Learning Zone and where dental students from A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health provided participants with free dental care, such as oral screenings and dental treatment, along with dental goodie bags.
Just down the hallway, Flor McCarrick, a volunteer with the Ahwatukee Foothills Chapter of the National Charity League intrigued young event-goers with this question: “Which animal has the strongest teeth? They say it’s as strong as titanium metal.”
The answer?
A shock, frankly.
“It’s the aquatic snail,” she chirped. “Can you BELIEVE that?”
McCarrick, who volunteered with daughter Isabella, said the Back-to-School Clothing Drive distribution is “one of our favorite, favorite” events. Hands down. They get more members to volunteer at this event than others.
“I like the interaction with the actual kids,” she said.
Vladimir Dahl, an analytics consultant with Wells Fargo, was volunteering for the distribution event for the first time.
He asked schoolchildren visiting his table, “How many sugar cubes do you think are in a Mountain Dew?”
Answer: That would be 12.
He loves that children are getting their needs met to start the school year, but beyond that, “the learning atmosphere for education” was what he loved the most.
Volunteers like Courtney Gifford, volunteer engagement coordinator at the Phoenix Zoo, were happy to provide plenty of educational tidbits.
The onetime chef-turned-zoo educator said students love touching the animal skulls she brought. They also got to test their big cat skills in the Big Cat ID Challenge: How can you tell a leopard from a jaguar from a cheetah?
Cool facts: Cheetahs have the racing strip drawn down their face, leopards tout rosettes in their fur pattern, and jaguars tout a prominent jawline.
Kids could color bookmarks or pick up unique bookmarks made by Stitches of Love (some that looked like snakes with googly eyes) in the book pick-up area. They found books with titles like “Dinky Donkey” or “Gus Grows a Plant.” They also interacted with green-illuminated microrobots, drawing lines with a special pen that the robots would follow as part of the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine troop’s activity area.
And at the on-camera newscast table, they played meteorologist.
“BAM! Floating head!” one volunteer said as a third-grade student wrapped herself with a green cape that disappeared against a green screen. “Wow! Look how magical that was.”
Manager of internal communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected] or at 602-639-7901.
Related content:
GCU News: Students supplied with clothes, and a lot of love, at distribution event
