Five Keys Celebrates “Happy Back to School!” for Students in Huntington Park, CA
Five Keys staff gathered more than 3,000 backpacks and school supplies for students of all ages heading back to school in Huntington Park, CA, a mostly Hispanic, working-class community in the inner Southeastern Los Angeles area.
On August 13, members of Five Keys’ ELO and Student Services teams joined the “Happy Back to School” event, which drew more than 5,000 people, and sponsored by Be Social Productions, according to Carol Guillen, Learning Recovery Manager.
“Our goal was to engage with the community and give back,” says Guillen. “One of the Five Keys stands for ‘Community’ and this event gave us the opportunity to immerse with one of the communities we service. We were able to give back to school age students and share the great services Five Keys provides with those interested in enrolling.”
The event, held at Salt Lake Park in Huntington Park included surprise guest, J.R. Villanueva, from the Disney Channel series Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion and included free backpacks, school supplies, COVID-19 vaccines, health screenings, free kids’ haircuts, arts and crafts, raffles and much more.
A shoutout goes to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit which provides diapers, formula and the basic needs for children living in poverty, and Big Sunday, an LA-area organization which organizes more than 2,000 ways for volunteers to help the community each year.
Big Sunday donated 175 pre-filled back packs and Baby2Baby donated over 6,000 writing utensils (pens/pencils/markers/color pencils) along with some binders. Five Keys provided "swag" items such as pencil pouches, hand sanitizers, portable chargers, lip balms, coasters, notebooks, and pens with the Five Keys logo. The Five Keys booth drew much attention to Five Keys’ ESL classes, adds Guillen.
Five Keys staff who helped organize the event included: Carol Guillen, Andrea Casillas, Learning Recovery Paraprofessional, Claudia Tinajero, Administrative Assistant, Karla Muñoz, Administrative Assistant, Dorothy Velasco, Assistant Director of Operations and Vanessa Martinez, Regional Administrative Manager.
