Pack and pick up

COSTA MESA — Juan Castellon went to Share Our Selves with his father, brother and sister Saturday morning to pick up some needed family supplies — not food or money for rent, but pencils, notebooks and anything else that fit into two backpacks.

Juan, a sophomore at Newport Harbor High School, was one of hundreds who stopped at the Westside nonprofit during its 13th annual Back to School Day. Starting shortly before 9 a.m. and ending about noon, families passed through the storage room at 1550 Superior Ave. to pick up a pair of backpacks each. No family got to take more than two, but the organizers tried to fit enough into each pack to go around.

“I just came here for my little brother and sister,� said Juan, 15, who added he had enough supplies of his own to last the school year.

Saturday was a crucial day for a number of schoolchildren in Orange County, as Share Our Selves held its annual drive and the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa began assembling clothes, books and school supplies for low-income students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The former event typically distributes about 1,200 backpacks each year, while the latter, part of the nationwide program Operation School Bell, gathered enough supplies for about 900 children by Saturday.

Together, the two groups worked to fulfill a need that might seem foreign to many Orange County residents, said Madison Carroll, 15, a volunteer for the Assistance League.

“You see these kids who are so underprivileged, and it’s a shock to know that there are people living right nearby who have, like, four cars,� said Madison, who lives in Huntington Beach and attends Mater Dei High School.

Saturday was only a packing day for the Assistance League, which plans to host a number of days later in the year when children from around Orange County can stop by for clothes, school supplies and books. About two dozen members of the La Marisa Guild — the Assistance League’s auxiliary for working women — and their daughters gathered at the headquarters on Fairview Road to package supplies by age and gender.

The families who pass through the league’s headquarters each year are identified by their schools as being in need. Each child passes through the makeshift store to pick out books and clothes; there is even a fitting room for the latter.

“It’s chaotic from the outside, but it’s actually very organized,� said Sue Ahearn, the co-chairwoman of the league’s Operation School Bell program.

Share Our Selves operates its program only one day a year, soliciting donations from Taco Bell, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Starbucks and other companies and individuals. Elizabeth Evans, the marketing and communications manager for Share Our Selves, said families had begun lining up around the block as early as 5 a.m.

“It’s expensive to send a kid to school, so it definitely helps,� she said. “A backpack with a binder and a lunch box and other supplies is going to take the child well into the year, and it isn’t something the family is going to have to factor into their expenses.�

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].