Santa Maria’s Target store was bombarded with 30 boys and girls on Aug. 6. They picked out clothing, backpacks, and the school supplies to fill them with as beneficiaries of the Salvation Army in Santa Maria.
The organization provides families in need with social services that include youth programs, utilities assistance, food assistance, and more. The Santa Maria students were just 30 of the 300 children in Southern California helped by the Target and Salvation Army-sponsored shopping spree.
Each child was given an $81 Target gift card and assisted by a Salvation Army volunteer.
“Without events like this, the children would return to school with ill-fitting clothing and shoes,” said Dawn Wright, a Salvation Army spokesperson, in an e-mail. “The event helps them enter school with confidence.”
It was the fifth annual national Target Back-to-School Shopping Spree for Salvation Army beneficiaries. The event takes place in all 40 Salvation Army divisions across the nation; it was the first one held in Santa Maria.
The nationwide event has grown from 2,000 children to 12,000. Almost 500 Target stores across the country collectively provided $1 million in Target gift cards and in-kind contributions.
For more information on Southern California’s division of the Salvation Army, visit Salvationarmy-socal.org. To help a child in need within the community, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
This article appears in Aug 15-22, 2013.