This summer, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Roosevelt Park teamed up with Samuel Lutheran Church in Muskegon to participate in the annual Lakeshore Backpacks for Kids event. Each year, the church joins with others in the area filling backpacks with various useful items for area children in need. Campus Director Lisa Picard has worked with Samuel Lutheran Church in the past volunteering to assist with their food trucks and was always impressed with the organization and goodwill towards the community. So, she wanted to get the rest of the campus excited to come together and help local kids, and she thought the Backpack giveaway would be a great way to do it.
The Lakeshore Backpacks for Kids event is one that many families in the area count on to help them get their children ready for school. In addition to giving away free backpacks filled with school supplies, many of the sites also offer vision screening, hearing screening, healthy snacks, child I.D. kits, and haircuts. Children get their backpacks and other important school preparation items out of the way while enjoying food and fun with friends and family. At last year’s event, 1,500 backpacks were given to local children for school.
The campus was excited to help these children and families get ready for back to school! Lisa Picard, Campus Director, also created some friendly competition between the various programs by having the instructors spearhead the month long event. By the end of the collection, the campus was thrilled to find that they ended up with a total of 380 items they were able to donate to the cause. The afternoon Medical Assistant class under instructors Angela Lewis and Melissa Amaro were very motivated and made sure their class took first place! Second place went to the morning Dental Assistant class and their instructor Edk Sloan. Medical Assistant student, Kristina Yeager, shared about the event, “I have been on the end of less fortunate and to know that there are people out there that truly care makes me happy.” Everyone on campus did a great job and looks forward to participating in this event again next year!