Courtesy of Friends of San Pasqual Academy
Volunteers of Friends of San Pasqual Academy display the many items that were collected for the foster students’ Back To School event, held at San Pasqual Academy. (L-R) Kathy Lathrum, Charito Rickenbaucker, Keith Rickenbaucker, Andrea Reynolds, Teri Summerhays, Joan Scott, Lauren Pickard and Lois Jones.
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, according to a news release.
Teri Summerhays, board member of Friends of San Pasqual Academy, said in the news release, “The students call this day ‘Shop ‘Till You Drop Day’ since many items such as school supplies, backpacks, shoes, tee shirts, socks, hygiene items, clothing and more have been collected and donated to our 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.” This event was coordinated by Debby Syverson.
Courtesy of Friends of San Pasqual Academy
Solana Santa Fe School PTO and the school community, along with other organizations and individuals, collected school supplies for the foster teens of San Pasqual Academy. (L-R) Principal Matt Frumovitz, Anna Lardsson, Nicole De Fazzio, Neda Afshar, PTO President Kate Afshar, Maria Holgersson, Gen Lipkovicius and Frank Kephart displaying the numerous school supplies that they donated to the foster students. A Back To School event was held at San Pasqual Academy, where all the foster teens received these items and this event was hosted by Friends of San Pasqual Academy.
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 collected numerous school supplies, which included notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, protractors, markers and various other items. The Rotary Club of Escondido collected and purchased body wash, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and socks. National Charity League members, headed by Catherine and Ashlyn Garrigan, created wonderful Welcome Back To School cards that were attached to candy for each foster student, along with a beautiful bookmark. Friends of San Pasqual Academy members purchased sweat pants and sweatshirts that had the school logo on them, which the students greatly enjoyed. Backpacks filled with more school supplies were purchased by Friends of San Pasqual Academy and was coordinated by Kathy Lathrum and Bob Syverson. The Rotary Club of Rancho Santa Fe is also collecting school supplies for all the foster students.
Courtesy of Friends of San Pasqual Academy
The Rancho Santa Fe Rotary Club was another organization that collected and purchased school supplies for the foster teens of San Pasqual Academy. This collection was coordinated by Sophia Alsadek and Robin Chappelow. Notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, paper, sketch books, composition books and more were provided by the generous Rotarians. Displaying these very useful items are Andree Meltzer-Heltena, Robin Chappelow and Sophia Alsadek.
This event was a great success and the students loved “shopping” for their school supplies and selecting their clothes. Much appreciation to the wonderful volunteers, which included Lois Jones, Teri Summerhays, Andrea Reynolds, Debby Syverson, Kathy Lathrum, Bob Syverson, Lauren Pickard, Keith Rickenbaucker, Charito Rickenbaucker and Joan Scott. The students greatly appreciated these individuals 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.
Courtesy of Friends of San Pasqual Academy
National Charity League members created “Welcome Back To School” cards that were attached to candy for each foster student, along with a beautiful bookmark.
Lois Jones, board member of Friends of San Pasqual Academy, said in the news release, “We want to thank the many wonderful individuals, Solana Santa Fe School, National Charity League and the many Rotarians for making this event so successful and memorable for all our foster teens. 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”.
Andrea Reynolds said in the news release, “It was overwhelming to see the quantity of items purchased or 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 supports the foster teens of San Pasqual Academy. 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.