A group of more than 20 volunteers converged on Travis Elementary School Tuesday to pack backpacks with school supplies for students.
Plans are to distribute the 200 backpacks July 18 at the school, Principal Amy Russell said. Those giving of their time were staff from Travis, people from Odessa Bible Church, school board members, teachers, attorneys and school board members.
Jesse Macias, field service supervisor for ST9 Gas and Oil, said he asked Odessa City Council member Mark Matta what school would be good to help out and he suggested Travis. Macias and Matta go to the same church and Macias knew Matta was involved in the community.
Macias said his company is based in Tomball and they helped a school in Magnolia, so Macias mentioned it to the company CEO Chris Buckley and it went from there.
They decided on backpacks and supplies. They started with 25 and the number kept growing until they reached 200.
Macias said Buckley is a humble guy who believes in helping people.
“… It’s a good thing to do for your community. I appreciate him doing this over here in West Texas. The company is based out of … Houston, but we’re everywhere. We are trying to expand, so it’s good to be here so we can help this community … not just one in particular … Hopefully, this is just the beginning and we can do more here in West Texas,” Macias said.
Macias is from El Paso, but has lived in Odessa for eight years.
“I’ve got a lot of ideas and I’m glad to work for a company that was willing to give me the support for it. It’s a blessing. … We’re trying to get more recognized here in West Texas,” Macias said.
Russell said each backpack will have enough for the students to get started for their first few weeks of school.
“Starting earlier, this is going to make us ready for hopefully the bulk of our kids …,” Russell said.
They will be distributed as part of the Back to School Bash July 18. The purpose of that is to greet parents and allow the parents who have registered to pick up their backpack and have some food, Russell added.
She said the campus is 87 percent economically disadvantaged.
Myrna Diaz, a fifth-grade bilingual teacher at Travis, helped pack the bags.
“I was excited to hear that they donated that much … A lot of our kids come unprepared the first few days and that way they already have something to start with. We’re always running around trying to get some extra stuff for kids that don’t come prepared. It’s not it’s not that they can’t; sometimes it’s just time-wise, payday wise …,” Diaz said.
Sherry Palmer, retired principal at Carver Early Education Center, was volunteering at Travis Tuesday. She said she and Russell are good friends.
“… You always have to invest in your kids in the community. … This is a really neat way to do that. We had really great people that supplied the stuff and all we had to do is just take it and stuff it in,” Palmer said.
She added that every student wants something new to start the year with.
Derek Candelas was volunteering from Odessa Bible Church and he always helps out there, as well. He added that he knows what it’s like to not to have any stuff.
“It’s awesome giving stuff to children; children that don’t have anything …,” Candelas said.
