NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A whole lot of awesomeness happened in North Las Vegas Saturday afternoon. Councilmen Scott Black hosted his third annual Bikes and Backpacks giveaway at Silver Mesa Recreation Center.
The first 1,000 children in attendance were gifted a free backpack with school supplies and many parents were more than grateful.
"[The backpacks] are not empty. They come with crayons, glue sticks, pens, and pencils. Also, got a pencil sharpener," said Dave Horn.
He said the event allowed him to save about $150 since he has four kids in school.
"We did very good today. We were well taken care of," said Horn.
"Oh my goodness. It's one thing I don't have to think about, worry about, or stress about. It's stress level gone down," said Yesenia Arriaga.
Councilmen Scott Black told 13 Action News many families can't afford the cost of a new school year.
"Every year we hear an outcry from the community, a need for supplies. So the kids have what they need to be successful in school," said Black.
Day-Day Jordan, an 8th grader, said he was happy to received free gifts for the start of the new school year.
"It's a good environment for them to do this for us," said Jordan.
Jordan also said his parents are grateful and will now be able to buy him new clothes instead.
Besides backpacks and supplies, 64 bikes were raffled to students, and Arriaga's daughter was one of the lucky ones.
"Yeah! It's so good. It's so awesome," said five-year-old Yesenia.
"It turned out to be a blessing to come out here and got this awesome bike for her," said Arriaga.
Councilmen Black plans to continue with the yearly tradition to help kids in North Las Vegas succeed.
"This is a great way to start the school year," said Black.
On Thursday, Aug. 8, Ward 1 Councilman Issac Barron will host his annual back-to-school giveaway at Neighborhood Recreation Center. The event will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 1638 N. Bruce St., North Las Vegas.
Councilman Barron will hand out backpacks to hundreds of children, then send them to community partner booths around the gym, where they can collect school supplies for the year.
The backpacks and supplies will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to kindergarten through 12th grade students only.
Students must be in attendance to receive a backpack or to win a bike, and the giveaway is limited to one backpack per student.
