Senior citizens fill backpacks with supplies for foster children

By Francesca Washington, Multi-Media Journalist

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(Source: KLTV Staff)

(Source: KLTV Staff)

(Source: KLTV Staff)

LONGVIEW, TX (KLTV) -

Seniors adults are getting all the essentials ready for back to school. Tuesday, folders and notebooks were just a few of the essentials stuffed inside backpacks for school kids. Residents at Buckner Westminster Place in Longview prepared 57 backpacks, specifically for children in foster care.

“I just want to help out. I believe education is the key to much," said backpack stuffer Joe Erwin.

The seniors gathered supplies for students in pre-k to 12th grade. It was a nostalgic effort for many.

"It has been a long time I graduated, in 1944, from high school," said backpack stuffer Rusty Lee.

According to 91-year-old Lee, the necessities of today didn't exist when he was in school.

"No we did not have backpacks. We carried them in our hands, our books," Lee said.

"We used a tablet and a pencil and that's all," Erwin said.

Even though the times and supplies have changed, residents said they are happy to do their part.

"With a good education, all the problems will go away, I think," Erwin said.

Buckner officials believes there is a lesson to learn from their residents' efforts.

“You're never too old to help, and I would just challenge us younger people what can we do to help," said Marketing Director Blake Lambert.

On August 12 there will be a back-to-school Ice cream social, and the residents will get to present the backpacks and supplies to the students.