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Schools

Elementary Schoolers Start Year Off Right with Donated Backpacks

More than 100 students at Kinoshita Elementary in San Juan Capistrano who didn't have book bags on their first day of school now have backpacks and school supplies.

The first day of school Wednesday was brighter for 107 students at Elementary School.

Those students who teachers noticed were without book bags and other supplies received colorful, new backpacks collected as part of a growing donation effort by a Ladera Ranch mom.

Sara Nieves-Lucas, a counselor at , started the backpack drive three years ago. In its inaugural year, she collected 30 bags. The next year, 107.

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This year, with the help of students at Saddleback, there were 207 divided equally between Kinoshita and another elementary school in Santa Ana.

"Growing up, we didn’t have much," she said of her own childhood. "The best way to start somebody on the right foot is to give them a backpack."

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This year's effort was a partnership between Melting Pot Moms, of which Nieves-Lucas is a member, and Aclamo, a resource and community outreach group she advises for Latino students at Saddleback.

Nieves-Lucas said she selects schools to donate to based on the number of students from low-income families and who get free lunches.

"I'm impressed with people's generosity, especially during these times," she said of those who donated the backpacks, which are stuffed with school supplies. "It makes a big difference in a child’s life."

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