2018 Prepped for School Recap
Las Vegas, NV – Months of hard work and planning came to light on August 17, when the Prepped for School campaign fulfilled its promise of providing backpacks and much needed school supplies for the nearly 850 students of Robert E. Lake Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The campaign was championed by our Director of Operations, Zachary Lopez and his childhood friend Alex Lee who is the co-owner of FoodieFit in Las Vegas. The two have been friends since 1st grade and worked together last year in a meal-for-meal campaign that raised over 10,000 meals. Zac and Alex both wanted to reach a bigger goal this year and initiated the Prepped for School campaign.
This year, FoodieFit’s focus was to help local children in their own backyard. Robert E. Lake Elementary is a Title I school – meaning a high percentage of their students come from low-income families. The campaign was created to help alleviate the financial burdens that fall upon the parents in providing the necessary school supplies that would enable their children to achieve their highest potential.
The community responded enthusiastically to the Prepped for School campaign with big donations coming in from Richard Harris Law Firm, Backstreet Boys along with numerous small businesses showing their support. The campaign raised over $30,000 which will also provide a new school garden complete with a pergola and outdoor classroom, in addition to a wall of fame for all supporters.
The campaign was a shining example of a community coming together to help their fellow neighbors. One teacher exclaimed “It’s refreshing to see how many people care about our students and their education!” Even after the event had wrapped, and the volunteers had long gone, the smiles on the children’s faces didn’t fade – “All day I just saw huge smiles on the students faces when they wore their brand new backpacks!”
A special thank you to FoodieFit, Richard Harris Law Firm, the Backstreet Boys and everyone else who made this event a success!
When the children arrived they immediately embraced our company. Each member of the mission trip team was assigned 2-3 kids who they served and bonded with the whole week. The trip entailed many activities and field trips all over the Baja region which included a farm, where they got to ride and groom horses, feed cows and learn how a farm operates; a attend a concert and outdoor movie; visit the famous Casitas Ranch where we played in ponds and navigated an obstacle course; made s’mores around a campfire and ended the final day at the beach playing in the water and riding the waves.
Our 2018 mission trip included plenty of playing, laughter and fun while we continued to bond a give them a week to never forget. The week concluded with affirmation campfire where the true bonds we created came to light. There were hugs, smiles, and a lot of tears as we were saying goodnight to the children for the last time this year. It was at this time when we realized how much our team got out of the week, “I knew it was going to be emotional but when I looked over and saw tears streaming down my kids face…I lost it” one team member said. Another said “I can’t believe the bonds we created in just a short week – I came here to give back I didn’t know how much I’d be taking away.”
After sending the children off, we again loaded into our van and started our way back home. A little dirtier, a little more tired but each team member came back with the love of a child they didn’t know existed only 6 days earlier.
