A participant is all smiles after receiving her backpack at the Burleson County Back-to-School Blast.
College Station, Tx–It was a busy two weeks from August 6th-August 18th for the Strengthening Families of the Brazos Valley program. Staff members and volunteers traveled over 100 miles across four counties to deliver over 500 free backpacks for children of all ages throughout the Brazos Valley.
“It’s a great service for the community and it’s a way for us to give back to the people who support us and to let the communities know that we are here for them when they need us.” said, Laurie Naumann, SFBV Program Manager.
In addition to the backpacks, many counties offered health screenings, free school supplies and valuable resources for parents. Lisa Williams has three children in Navasota I.S.D. “I’ve been attending this event for at least four years now in Grimes County and so far this year’s back to school fair was the best one. There were so many vendors with valuable information for parents and students. And the free backpacks provided by SFBV was much appreciated. It’s great to have a program that cares about the community. It’s also a blessing in disguise for many parents who can’t afford to get their children a backpack and school supplies to start the new school year.” said, Williams.
SFBV is a program within the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and provide free services to families in Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison and Robertson Counties. They offer courses to individuals and couples 18+ in Parenting and Financial Education also known as Money$ense. The program also offers a two-day marriage retreat known as Synergy to married, engaged or dating couples.
The program is funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant: #90FM0099. These services are available to all eligible persons, regardless of race, gender, age, disability or religion.
For more information about the program or Synergy, visit families.tamu.edu or email, sfbrazos@gmail.com.
