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About 6,000 disadvantaged children in Broward and Miami-Dade will start the school year
with new backpacks and school supplies. Volunteers gathered Friday in a corporate
lunchroom at Union Bank in Sunrise to stuff the new backpacks that will be distributed
to homeless, abused and disadvantaged children in time for the first day of school Aug. 25.
About 1,000 backpacks will be distributed in Broward and 5,000 in Miami-Dade. ''We feel
homeless children should be starting school with new stuff like other kids, not stuff that
isn't up to standard,'' said Dianne Sepielli, coordinator of homeless education and character
education for the Broward County schools and a board member of Kids 4 Kids, the nonprofit
organization running the Fill-a-Backpack program. Volunteers stuffed each bag with four
folders, a box of colored pencils, a notebook, a ruler, a pencil holder with pencils inside,
a packet of lined paper and a composition book. The kids have a variety of backpack colors to
choose from: blue, red, green and yellow for older children and Spiderman and Barbie packs for
preschoolers. 'The program helps with kids' self-esteem and certainly helps with their
readiness to go back to school,'' Sepielli said. ``They need to feel good about themselves
going back because education is the way out of homelessness.'' The backpacks in Broward will
be delivered today in a caravan of 10 to 15 cars, starting at Plymouth Colony, a transitional
homeless shelter in Hollywood. Kids will be allowed to select the color and size of the bag
they want, as well as reading books and snacks. Nicole Jones, of Union Bank's human resources
department, said the bank is proud to be a sponsor of the campaign. Its workers volunteered
in shifts to assist with packing the bags. ''They give us their money and their time,'' Sepielli
said. School Board members and public school teachers were among the other volunteers. ''I
went to a homeless shelter to volunteer and they gave me information about this event,'' said
Melanie Greene, a teacher at Greynolds Park Elementary in North Miami Beach. ``I know firsthand
that they need these materials. It's nice that they won't be walking into school missing what other
kids have.'' Katia Despeignes, community liaison for the School Board, brought her daughter, Nicole,
13, and her niece, Stephanie Hecdivert, 14, who was visiting from Haiti, to help out. ''It's great
that they're helping out the children in school,'' said Nicole, who attends Margate Middle School. ``It
makes children be prepared and have all their stuff.''
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