Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. -- The event distributed school supplies to more than 100 children, service members and spouses. Representatives from Barstow Unified School District and Silver Valley Unified School District also attended.
MCLB Barstow’s Student Liaison Program combined with National Training Center Fort Irwin to ensure that both Fort Irwin and MCLB families had the opportunity to receive school supplies. Personnel at Fort Irwin helped by filling 100 bags of supplies and MCLB also added 100 bags. All 200 school supply bags were filled up with supplies from local store contributors, explained Debra McGough, school liaison officer here.
“The event is important because it helps parents out financially when it comes to supporting their children with school supplies. Any parent, with one child or six … like myself, benefit from events such as this one. Even the cheapest of items can become costly if it’s a consistently (bought) item,” said Gunnery Sgt. Antonio Flores, company gunnery sergeant of Headquarters Battalion, MCLB Barstow.
Sometimes people need any help they can get when it comes to school supplies, especially those with multiple children, added Flores.
“I have never before seen an event like this with the amount of items they were providing. I absolutely recommend Marines and any branch of service to take advantage of events like this,” said Flores.
Flores explained the event afforded him and his wife some breathing room financially. With money saved on school supplies, they can focus on other big ticket items for their children.
Thanks to the local store contributions, the event had enough supplies for anyone who attended, explained McGough.
“I received many supplies; from carry bags to reams of paper, to crayons, pencils, rulers, folders, and even binders,” said Flores, the father of six.
Events like this are a great experience for the youth, said McGough. It shows them how important education is.
“I was beyond grateful for (the staff at the event) and the event as a whole,” concluded Flores.