Press Releases

BB&K Teams Up with the Santa Ana Kiwanis Club to Donate Backpacks Filled with School Supplies

For Immediate Release: August 26, 2016
Media Contact: Denise Nix • 213.787.2552 • denise.nix@bbklaw.com

SANTA ANA, Calif. - No child should start the school year without the tools he or she needs to succeed. Having the best start in education leads to great outcomes in life. This is why Best Best & Krieger LLP and the Santa Ana Kiwanis Club delivered backpacks filled with school supplies to every student at Walker Elementary School in Santa Ana during the first week of school — Friday, Aug. 26.

This is the seventh year that BB&K has teamed up with community organizations to provide backpacks filled with supplies to students in need. This year, BB&K and the Kiwanis Club will distribute 582 backpacks to students at Walker. The school is part of the Santa Ana Unified School District, which is the largest in Orange County and the seventh largest in California, with 56,000 students, 91 percent of whom are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.

“I am honored to be a part of this wonderful Operation Backpack event and thank Gerardo Mouet with the City of Santa Ana for his assistance in bringing this partnership together with the Kiwanis,” said BB&K Partner Sonia Carvalho, who serves as city attorney to Santa Ana. “It feels great to support the youngest members — and the future leaders — of this community who I personally and professionally have become connected to these past four years. My partners and I are proud to help make a  difference in their academic life, as we all know that the key to success is a good education.”

Walker Principal Mariana Garate said she is “thrilled” to have her school chosen for this event. “Walker students are exceptional and bright, and they deserve to start the year prepared. We are so grateful for the backpacks.”

“The Kiwanis Club is proud to participate in such a worthwhile giveaway, which is on target with our mission to ‘change the world, one child at a time,’” said Kiwanis Club President David DeLeon. “I am humbled by the generosity of our members.”

The backpacks and supplies were purchased with money raised by BB&K’s attorneys and staff and contributions from Kiwanis Club members. Donations were also collected from Staples, Intex, Schmid Investments, DTI, All State Legal, First Legal and through an ice cream social/donation event for tenants organized by One Cal Plaza, the landlord for BB&K’s Los Angeles office.