School supplies resource event hopes to help Bakersfield families
This year's inflation has driven up the cost of many things, including school supplies, and some parents may be struggling to get their kids the things they need to prepare to head back to school. That's why Calvary Bakersfield Church is hosting their Back-to-School Summerfest event to help those in our community who feel the pain of pinching pennies. 23ABC's Dominique LaVigne visited Calvary Bakersfield to find out more.
Transcript
00:00 With prices higher in all sectors these days, some parents may struggle to get
00:04 their kids the school supplies they need to head back to school. That said, 23
00:08 ABC's Dominique Lavigny has more on a community event this weekend that could
00:12 help ease the financial burden for parents. Spending money on school
00:16 supplies can be hard for some low-income families this year. That's why Calvary
00:21 Bakersfield is hosting their back-to-school Summerfest event to help
00:25 those in our community who are feeling the pain of pinching pennies. Being a
00:29 eastsider, you know, being on the east side of Bakersfield, you see the
00:33 different pockets of different areas of need of families struggling. So we wanted
00:37 to get back to the families, to the kids, to make it that just a little bit easier
00:41 right before going back to school. Gabriel Alvarez, the lead pastor of
00:45 Calvary Bakersfield, says he wanted to host the back-to-school Summerfest this
00:48 year because of the need he sees in the community, especially with many families
00:52 struggling to pay for school supplies on top of basic essentials like food.
00:55 According to an analysis from e-commerce marketing firm Pattern, the cost for
00:59 items like pens, composition books, crayons, and folders all increased
01:04 between about 2 and 13 percent this year. However, items like backpacks, calculators,
01:08 boys clothes, and girls shoes all decreased this year. But Alvarez says
01:13 for families with multiple kids, the cost increases exponentially. It adds up
01:17 quickly, you know, all the items from from a backpack, a backpack that as low
01:23 as $10-15, you know, times three or four kids in a family, just the backpack
01:28 itself, the school supplies that is needed to fill those backpacks, they
01:32 start adding up really fast. And Natalie Santamaria with LA-based nonprofit
01:37 Vision y Compromiso says inflation isn't the only challenge facing families
01:41 right now. There are a lot of farm workers that are out of work because of
01:45 the flooding that happened, you know, other factors, climate change, the heat. So
01:52 there are a lot of folks that are not working their regular hours. Santa
01:55 Maria says the nonprofit donated to the event and will volunteer to provide
01:58 additional resources like information on mental health support groups that
02:02 help residents cope with life challenges. I think when you're part
02:05 of events like this, go back, you know, that give back to the community. It
02:09 also gives you a sense of belonging and it gives you hope. They plan to serve
02:12 more than 800 people at the event and Alvarez says they already have more
02:16 than 530 backpacks and school supplies for families that show up saturday and
02:21 he expects even more donations throughout the week. It's not an event
02:24 where we put something on and we're gone. No, it's an event letting them
02:29 know we're putting something on and we're here. If you're in need of school
02:32 supplies or fun weekend plans, you can spend your evening at Calvary
02:36 Bakersfield's back to school summer fest beginning at 6 30 PM in East
02:40 Bakersfield. I'm Dominique Lavignier 23 abc News connecting you