BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Delano families can pick up free backpacks and connect with local resources this Sunday at the city's annual Ready, Set, Back 2 School Open House. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 260 West 11th Ave. Children must be present to receive a backpack, and supplies are available while they last.
The open house is a partnership between the Delano Recreation Department and Kern County Child Support Services, now in its fifth year. Kern County Child Support Services is supplying the backpacks this year.
Local organizations and businesses will also be on site, connecting families with resources, services, and information designed to help them throughout the school year. Delano Mayor Salvador Solorio-Ruiz said the effort grew out of a simple question city leaders asked themselves in 2020.
"Back in 2020, myself and others asked, what more could we do as city leaders?" Solorio-Ruiz said.
The first event took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and looked far different from what families will experience this Sunday.
"The first time we did this, it was during Covid time. Instead of families coming into the building, we would have it where it was a drive-through event where they would drive through, and we would give them a backpack, and we would give them resources," Solorio-Ruiz said.
Over the years, the event has grown in scale and scope. Solorio-Ruiz said the turnout each year makes the need in the community clear.
"The day of the events, my God, there is a line of parents waiting for the backpacks. And we don't ask questions; we don't say, do you need it? We don't say, show me this, show me that. All we say is, here you go, and good luck and have a great start for your school year," Solorio-Ruiz said.
When he sees children show up on the first day of school wearing their new backpacks, Solorio-Ruiz said it confirms why the city keeps showing up.
"I feel like we're doing something, we're making some changes. And I feel like we're in these roles to ask questions, to push, to say, what more could we do? And the City of Delano in collaboration with our city staff, our Recreation Department, Kern County Child Support Services, is doing just that… collaborating to help our community, to make sure that we leave this world better off than we found it," Solorio-Ruiz explained.
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