A few students at California Avenue Elementary School received new backpacks filled with a variety of school supplies that were donated from the local CVS Pharmacy on Patterson Road in Riverbank.

California Avenue Elementary Principal Kathy Briggs received a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the school year when Howard Hanes, CVS Store Manager delivered the backpacks filled with school supplies.

“At CVS pharmacy we are committed to giving back to the communities we serve and we also always look for ways to bring our colleagues together,” said Joanne Dwyer, CVS Caremark Corporate Communications and Community Relations. “We wanted to start a program where CVS colleagues could volunteer their time to give back to the local community and we developed the Backpack/School Supply Drive.”

The program was executed throughout the district which included schools across Stockton, Modesto, Oakdale, Riverbank, Sonora, Angels Camp, Valley Springs, Patterson, Tracy, Manteca and Ripon that received backpacks.

“We rolled the program out to the whole area and in our district; the teams were really excited about the program,” stated Dwyer. “It’s because of their enthusiasm that we were able to collect so many backpacks at all of the stores.”

The stores within the district selected a local school or classroom based on the need within the community.

“The backpacks were filled with various school supplies to help kids get started for the new year,” said Dwyer. “This included everything from pencils, markers and notebooks to hand sanitizer.”

There were backpacks delivered to several schools in the area including California Avenue Elementary, as well as Riverbank’s Cardozo Middle School, and approximately 52 backpacks were delivered to Tracy Unified School District.

“Our Store Managers did deliver the backpacks directly to the kids and they really enjoyed seeing the smiles on their faces,” added Dwyer.

The new school year is under way and the backpacks were much appreciated, stated Briggs.