NEWBERRY – Nearly 1,000 participating TCC and Wireless Zone stores across the United States, including the Newberry location at 113 Heritage Drive, are inviting local families and their children to come by between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. July 23 to pick up a backpack filled with various school supplies, including pencils, paper, a pencil box, folders and glue.
One backpack per child present will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
Round Room LLC, the nation’s largest Verizon Authorized Wireless Retailer, said its TCC and Wireless Zone stores are donating 172,000 backpacks full of school supplies to ensure children are well prepared for the start of the school year.
Since 2013, TCC has donated more than 505,000 backpacks filled with supplies through its annual School Rocks Backpack Giveaway, and Wireless Zone is now a part of the nationwide initiative.
Each participating TCC store will donate 220 backpacks. All leftover backpacks will be donated to local schools.
In 2016, the National Retail Federation predicted the average person with children in grades K-12 would spend $107.76 on school supplies, which has increased from last year’s prediction of $97.74. With nearly 20 percent of children in the United States living in poverty, TCC is working to alleviate the rising costs of school supplies through this annual program.
Supporters of the School Rocks Backpack Giveaway are encouraged to use hashtags #BetterTogether and #TCCRocks on Instagram and Twitter to help spread the word.