Foster students receive ‘Back-To-School’ welcome from Friends Of San Pasqual Academy

For most teenagers, the beginning of another school year marks the end of summer and is not a day many look forward to with eagerness. Members of Friends of San Pasqual Academy and others made starting school fun for the foster teens of San Pasqual Academy with their “Back-To-School” event, held on the campus of San Pasqual Academy.

The students call this day “Shop ‘Til You Drop Day”, since many items such as school supplies, back-packs, hygiene items, clothing and more have been collected and donated to the foster students by numerous, caring individuals and organizations. These foster teens look forward to this event and are in awe of what everyone has provided for them. They greatly appreciate not just the “shopping selection process,” but the presence of the wonderful volunteers that make this event happen, according to a news release.

The auditorium was filled with wonderful items that had been collected, donated or created for the students of San Pasqual Academy. Solana Santa Fe School, National Charity League members and the Rotary Clubs of Rancho Santa Fe and Escondido collected very useful and important school supplies.

The Rotary Club of Rancho Santa Fe put together backpacks full of numerous school supplies, that included pens, pencils, paper, rulers, earbuds, sketchbooks, binders pocket folders, flash drives and more.

The Rotary Club of Escondido collected and purchased body wash, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and other useful items.

Friends of San Pasqual Academy members purchased a sweatshirt with the school logo on it for all the foster teens, more school supplies and held a Pizza Party afterward for all the students and staff at San Pasqual Academy. Each teacher was also given a special Welcome Gift, created by Andrea Reynolds, a board member of Friends of San Pasqual Academy.

This event was a great success and the students loved “shopping” for their school supplies and selecting their clothes. The students greatly appreciated the many volunteers taking the time to help them shop and treasured their time with them. The relationships that have been developed between the foster teens and the volunteers is one of respect and caring. “Thank you to the many supporters of Friends of San Pasqual Academy who have created these unique, memorable experiences for the foster students of San Pasqual Academy,” the news release stated.

According to Kathy Lathrum, board member of Friends of San Pasqual Academy, “These kids, for the most part, do not have anyone purchasing school supplies or clothing items for them to begin the school year. We do this for our own children and it is great to see so many caring people do this same thing for these wonderful foster teens.”

According to Teri Summerhays, board member of Friends of San Pasqual Academy, “It was overwhelming to see the quantity of items donated out of kindness and generosity to students of San Pasqual Academy. These foster teens are always so amazed of the caring and support they receive from this community and want to convey their sincere feeling of gratitude and say ‘thank you’ for caring so much about them. They really do feel our support and appreciate the time and effort of all our volunteers. We certainly made this school year start off with an event they will remember. Thank you for making this such a success!”

Friends of San Pasqual Academy is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been caring for the foster teens of San Pasqual Academy for over 24 years. Friends of San Pasqual Academy board members are Lois Jones, Andrea Reynolds, Kathy Lathrum, Teri Summerhays, Debby Syverson, Bob Syverson and Joan Scott. Any questions, contact (858) 759-3298 or visit www.friendsofsanpasqualacademy.org for more information. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 8202, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067.