900 backpacks donated to local youth
Marty Cordova and Kika Sanchez collect some of the backpacks that were donated during the Back to School Drive. Century Bank, Cray Inc., Del Norte Credit Union, Dollars4Schools, Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, Pojoaque Boys & Girls Club, Self-Help, and Smith’s Marketplace partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory for the 2016 event.
For many Northern New Mexico students, a new backpack and up-to-date school supplies are not luxuries. They’re necessities that enable students to start the school year—and the rest of their school career—off on the right foot.
That’s why Los Alamos National Laboratory, along with eight local partners, sponsored a Back to School Drive from June 15–August 9. More than 900 supply-filled backpacks and shoe cards (gift certificates) were delivered to students in Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Mora, San Miguel, Sandoval, and Taos counties.
“We had a list of more than 48 families—124 students—who have come in to our office in need of backpacks and school supplies,” explains Sennie Quintana, Food Service Director at Española Public Schools. “Our district is very grateful for the generous donations that Los Alamos employees have given our students in the past and continue to provide.”
Backpacks filled with much-needed school supplies—pencils, three-ring binders, notebooks, scissors, crayons, calculators, and hand sanitizers—were just a few of the items students needed to start the school year off prepared.
