The Gifford Youth Achievement Center (GYAC) enjoyed a morning full of giving during its 25th-annual Back-to-School Bash. The collection of school supplies, which began in July, culminated on Friday, August 4th with a packing party at GYAC. Students from IRSC’s TRIO Upward Bound program, staff from the Elections Office, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, and players and coaches from three baseball teams with the Jackie Robinson Training Complex converged at GYAC to sort, pack and inventory the backpacks. In a few short hours, the work was complete, and hundreds of backpacks were ready for distribution.
The joyous giveaway event took place on Saturday, August 5th in GYAC’s parking lot for mobile distribution of backpacks filled with notebooks, paper, pens and pencils, folders, and much more. In addition to the school supplies, families were greeted by cheering children who held up signs with words of encouragement for students.
GYAC was grateful to partner with several organizations and receive help from more than 60 wonderful volunteers. With support from the community, GYAC was able to distribute 625 backpacks to families in need. Thanks to our amazing community, Indian River County students are better prepared to start the school year.
A special thanks to the following organizations for their contributions to another successful Back-to-School Bash: Community Church of Vero Beach, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Northern Trust Bank, Spada’s Total Auto Repair, Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Office, Jackie Robinson Training Complex, Purpose Driven Youth, Senior Life Services, Treasure Coast Girls Coalition, Gifford Youth Orchestra, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Be Greater Then… Inc., TRIO Upward Bound, Waste Management, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
