Hundreds of Pahrump students benefit from Back to School Fair

The 2021-2022 school year is set to begin in just a few days, and thanks to the combined efforts of NyE Communities Coalition staff, volunteers and generous contributors throughout the community, hundreds of area youth are now stocked up on supplies necessary to tackle the coming academic challenges.

The NyE Communities Coalition’s 2021 Back to School Fair occurred on Saturday, July 31 at the Pathways Innovative Education Building, part of the Pahrump Valley High School campus. That’s where, bright and early that morning, mask-clad event workers were on site organizing the huge array of backpacks and other items destined to make their way into the hands of students all across the grade spectrum, from kindergarten through high school.

Parents began lining up in their vehicles even before the drive-thru style event kicked off at 8 a.m. and though the line doubled back on itself, snaking through a parking lot and extending quite a distance, it moved at a quick pace, with hundreds of families making their way through in a period of just two hours.

“The Back to School Fair was a great success this year. We had so many donations, supplies and support from the community that we were able to get over 500 students ready, or nearly ready, for their upcoming school year,” event organizer Amina Corey, who is finishing up her first year as an AmeriCorps member hosted by the coalition, told the Pahrump Valley Times. “Thankfully, the weather did not impact the event at all. It sprinkled a few times, but didn’t start to really rain until just as we were packed up and heading out.”

She remarked that the coalition has already received some positive comments from Back to School Fair attendees, detailing, “I’ve heard great feedback from residents so far. A few people were kind enough to call and thank us for the event. Some comments I received were that the event was well organized and they didn’t have to wait long in line, and so many were simply thankful for the supplies.”

A total of 571 backpacks filled with an assortment of school supplies and other items were handed out, surpassing last year’s total by more than 100 backpacks. In addition to this, another 20 sets of supplies, sans backpacks, were given out. Students received everything from loose-leaf paper, notebooks, folders and binders to pens, pencils, art supplies and even hand sanitizers and face masks.

For students who wish to participate in sports in the coming year, physicals are always required, but they can be cost-prohibitive for some families and this is a fact that event organizers are very much aware of. As a result, the Back to School Fair was able to offer assistance in this arena too, in the form of vouchers for free sports physicals from Spring Mountain Medical, 100 of which were distributed last Saturday morning.

The Back to School Fair also served as a convenient location for parents to take their students who were in need of vaccinations, whether the optional COVID-19 vaccine or other required immunizations. Corey reported that a total of 25 immunizations were completed throughout the course of the event.

Finally, child safety while in a vehicle is another focus for the NyE Communities Coalition and event organizers were able to work this mission into the Back to School Fair as well. There were several child booster seats available on site and event workers handed them out to those who expressed a need, while also educating fair attendees on the coalition’s car seat programs.

“NyECC has a few grants that pay for car seats, including booster seats,” Jess Rosner of the NyE Communities Coalition explained. “The seven backless booster seats at the event came from the Buckle Up for Life grant, four of the high-back booster seats came from a AAA grant and the rest came from the Nye County CSBG (Community Service Block Grant) grant.”

Rosner noted that the NyE Communities Coalition regularly provides car seats at no cost to parents and caregivers who qualify in Nye, Lincoln and Esmeralda counties and also provides car seat safety inspections, to help ensure that car seats are properly installed, with four certified car seat technicians on staff, three in Pahrump and one in Tonopah.

In conclusion, Corey said she and the entire coalition team were extremely grateful for the large turnout and the amazing support shown by the local community this year. “It takes the whole community to make these events successful,” she stated, adding, “Thank you to all of our donors and our wonderful volunteers who came to help out. Thank you to Pahrump for coming out on Saturday and for continuously showing us that these events do make an impact on our community.”

Donors for the event included Desert View Hospital, Desert Radiology, MedSmart, Nathan Adelson Hospice, Nevada Eye Physicians, Nevada Health Link, Nevada Outreach Training Organization, Nevada Rural Housing Authority, Nye County Health and Human Services, Nye County School District, P3 Health Partners, Pahrump Community Health Nurse’s Office, Pathways and Spring Mountain Medical. Grant dollars from the State of Nevada Division of Health, Human Services and Community Services also assisted with the purchase of supplies, backpacks and other items.

For more information on the NyE Communities Coalition and its many free services, visit www.nyecc.org or stop by the campus at 1020 E. Wilson Road.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com