Over 480 students from Jane Addams Elementary School in Long Beach and their parents braved cold pouring rain on Saturday, January 12, to attend Rick Rackers Auxiliary’s Action PACKED! Day.
Twenty-one Rick Rackers members, led by Operation School Bell® Chairman Wendy Whelan, plus 99 other Assistance League of Long Beach members and staff and community volunteers, clothed all the students in a marathon three-hour session. In addition to clothes, the children received books and back packs. One amazed and grateful parent commented, “I didn’t know this was possible.” One of the students said he was so happy to receive the books because he read to his non-English speaking parents to help them learn the language.
Other Assistance League of Long Beach philanthropic programs participated, too. Kids on the Block puppets were a magnet for the youngest children, and face painting and snacks were a big draw. The Orthodontic Program passed out brochures and toothbrushes. The Colgate Smiles Bus (not an Assistance League of Long Beach program) provided on-the-spot dental exams to 216 children, only 20 of whom had ever had a dental exam before. In addition, two seventh-grade Girl Scouts, Chloe Pearl and Sofia Brys from Troop 83 had collected 500+ books for their Silver Award and distributed all of them to some very happy students at Action PACKED! day.
Everyone had a great time – children, parents, volunteers, and representatives from the Long Beach Unified School District.
The goal for the day was to clothe all 800 students at the school. Those students who couldn’t attend on Saturday will be measured for uniforms next week with Rick Rackers delivering the clothes soon after.
