TEMECULA, CA – Thanks to the efforts of Murrieta Salvation Army branch and local businesses including Pechanga Resort Casino, 171 kids headed through their schools’ doors with new clothes, shoes, backpacks, and supplies as part of the 26th Annual Child Spree program.
“More than 100 community volunteers came to help the 171 children who were assisted in this year’s Child Spree event at JCPenney at the Temecula Promenade,” said Major James Sullivan of the Murrieta Corps of the Salvation Army. “More than half of our volunteers were from Pechanga Resort. Each child received a gift card for $125 of new school clothing and shoes, plus a new backpack filled with school supplies, to be prepared for the new school year. Pechanga is one of the key sponsors to this important event.”
When the store’s doors opened to the special group of shoppers, kids took their $125 gift cards, walking alongside their moms or dads and one of 38 Pechanga volunteers, to pick new clothes and shoes. Pechanga’s $7,000 gift to the Salvation Army made the event even more possible.
After leaving the department store with their new clothes, the children then made their way over to pick a backpack of their choice filled with back-to-school supplies, as well as books to bring home. Learning and behavior experts say wearing newer and well-fitted clothes can make an enormous difference for kids. Not only do they feel better about themselves, they feel more confident and comfortable, and often perform better in school.
Pechanga Resort Casino team members also collectively donated 110 backpacks and hundreds of school supplies such as pencils, highlighters, erasers and binders to Michelle’s Place, a major cancer resource center for the Inland Empire. Pechanga volunteers distributed the supplies to kids and families. Pechanga team members contributed so many backpacks that Michelle’s Place could not take all of them. The extras – 60 backpacks and a pallet of school supplies – were picked up by representatives of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, located in rural northern San Diego County, for their youth as they start the school year.