Foothill Unity to Help 1500 Low Income Children Geat Ready for School Thursday

Students k-12 will be treated to Back to School items courtesy of the community through the effeorts of Foothill Unity Center for its 14th Annual Back to School event at Santa Anita this Thursday Aug 16.
The entire community shares in this annual effort, with more than 400 volunteers from businesses, schools and community groups. Another 150 cosmetologists and cosmetology students from Citrus College will furnish the children with haircuts and manicures. In addition, teachers and students from the USC School of Dentistry and Western University School of Optometry will be on hand to provide free dental and vision screenings to all children. There also will be food, entertainment, arts and educational activities. For example, the Monrovian Restaurant will be providing lunch for the event’s 400-plus volunteers; Panda Restaurant Group and McDonalds will be furnishing healthy snacks for the children; interactive displays from JPL’s “Experience the Rover” to ITT’s Deep Space Explorations will be present; special craft projects by Paint N’Play will be available; fun games and activities by CapitalSource Bank and Azusa Pacific University and many, many more
Foothill Unity Center acts as a lifeline for very low income individuals and families who are struggling to survive. 38% of them are children. Their service area covers eleven cities in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County: Monrovia, Arcadia, Duarte, Bradbury, Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Azusa, Baldwin Park and Irwindale. Clients are often unemployed, employed at wages too low to provide for their families, on welfare, or facing a temporary crisis. They also serve seniors, homeless, disabled, emancipated foster youth, victims of domestic violence, students on limited incomes and individuals just released from prison. In 2010, with support from the community and a large group of dedicated volunteers, they served 12,644 unduplicated persons (4,606 families).

-Photos by Terry Miller

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