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CLEARFIELD — Brightly colored backpacks, crayons, glue sticks, binders, notebooks, pencils and paper awaited hundreds of children during Operation Homefront's Back-to-School Brigade event on Wednesday, where children of military families could go to Hill Field Elementary School to pick any school supplies they needed, free of charge.
Over 325 preregistered children of military families could receive school supplies, with about 275 elementary school students and 75 junior high and high school students estimated to attend the event, according to Sarah Burk, an Operation Homefront volunteer.
"Today is about recognizing military children. Military children make a sacrifice like their parents do. It's important that we recognize and celebrate them; that's what we're doing today," said Kati Calhoun, a military spouse and Operation Homefront volunteer of the year. "Our children are a huge part of the military family."
Calhoun added that the beginning of the school year "is a prime time of duty station changes," which can cause additional financial stress to families.
For many families, Burk said, school supplies can cost over $100 for each child — and with some families having three to four children, they could face serious financial hardship.
"School is an expensive time. I mean, families are trying to make sure that they have clothes for kids as they're growing, and then to be gathering supplies so their students can be successful in school can be an additional burden at times," Burk said. "So this event, in providing those materials for those students, it alleviates that financial burden for parents."
Lindsey Key, a military spouse with three children, including one attending Hill Field Elementary this year, agreed with Burk.
"It'll help take away some of the stress of back-to-school," Key said. "Especially if you have more than one kid, school supplies are expensive, you know. They require so much at the beginning of the year, and sometimes they'll ask for more in the middle of the year depending on the teacher."
Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit organization that works to support military families, has hosted the Back-to-School Brigade since 2008, saving families more than $60 million in school supply expenses, according to the nonprofit.
We know that when a service member signs up to defend our country, really, the whole family stands behind them to serve as well.
–Amber Myszka, Operation Homefront
Several vendors — such as the Air Force Reserves, Military Family Readiness, Girl Scouts of Utah, STEM Action Center of Utah, and the Clark Planetarium — also attended the event, where they provided several resources for military children. Operation Homefront also had the support of Dollar Tree and Southern New Hampshire University in organizing the event, the nonprofit said in a news release.
Because military families are frequently relocating and may have unexpected out-of-pocket expenses, they may experience more stress in settling into new communities, jobs and schools, according to Amber Myszka, the director of Operation Homefront's integrated public relations.
"To add back-to-school expenses on top of that (the other stressors), it can really be a struggle for those families," Myszka said. "We are just so honored and grateful to take some of that pressure off. … We know that when a service member signs up to defend our country, really, the whole family stands behind them to serve as well."
Such events can assist families that may struggle to afford rent and other expenses amidst inflation, especially with 21% of military spouses being unemployed, Burk added; in fact, Utah military families are particularly struggling with rent's rising costs.
As of 2023, 22% of active military service members — compared with just 13% of the general population — were unable to pay their monthly bills outside of their rent or mortgages, according to a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
To best assist military family members, Myszka encouraged the public to either work with Operation Homefront as a volunteer or to donate to help make events like the Back-to-School Brigade possible.
"We have a large amount of military members in the state of Utah," Calhoun added. "Let's help give back to them."
