In the foothills and surrounding areas folks will be celebrating National Night Out.

By Clare BUCHANAN

On Saturday, July 25, the Glendale Kiwanis Club and Home Again Los Angeles, a non-profit organization serving unhoused folks and their families, came together to host a back-to-school shopping spree for under-resourced youth. Held at the Glendale Galleria Target, over 10 families lined up outside of the store at 7:30 a.m. before it opened. Rocio Martinez, director of operations for Home Again LA, kindly handed out Krispy Kreme donuts to the waiting families. 

Kiwanis volunteers also gathered early Saturday morning outside Target to organize the shopping spree. With help from Home Again LA, the Glendale Kiwanis Club was able to fund multiple back-to-school hauls for disadvantaged youth in preparation for the back-to-school season, providing the youth with the resources to purchase new backpacks, school supplies and clothing. 

Since COVID, the Glendale Kiwanis Club has been leading the shopping spree. For the past six years Kiwanis volunteers are paired with families in the Home Again LA program to assist them during the shopping spree, providing them with a gift card to shop for many of their needed supplies.

Albert Hernandez has been president of the Glendale chapter of the Kiwanis Club for one year, and CEO of Home Again LA for 12 years. 

“All the children who are here are either living in our shelter or living in low income housing,” Hernandez explained. “This is really important to Kiwanis because we want to make sure that all the children, regardless of their financial status, start their first day of school on an equitable playing field.”

As families waited for Target’s doors to open at 8 a.m., Hernandez led his team through an overview of how the morning would take place. Along with Hernandez, four employees from Home Again LA were present at the event, acting as liaisons between the families and the Kiwanis volunteers, who were eager to get the shopping spree started. Two Kiwanis members wore with pride their trademark Kiwanis Hawaiian shirts while another member wore a shirt that said “#KidsNeedKiwanis.”

Susie Dell with the Glendale Kiwanis Club has volunteered every year the Glendale Kiwanis has hosted the shopping spree. Before working with Kiwanis, she volunteered with the Salvation Army to ensure young people in her community were able to buy the proper school supplies. Dell noted the significance of the back-to-school season in providing a successful foundation for students. 

“Going back to school for me when I was a kid was always such a big event, especially at their age,” she said. Dell explained how the shopping spree event is meant to encourage “the thrill of going back to school” as well as making sure that come August, young folks in the Home Again LA program are “starting off on an even foot with everybody else.”