Bad news: the economy's still down. Good news: local kids' spirits at a recent shopping spree weren't, despite the fact that their families are among the most affected.
Smiles radiated from more than 25 faces, reflecting the thrill of shopping for new clothes and accessories for school.
Mervyns, long a company that has given back to the community, partnered with the Burbank Jaycees to host the 16th annual Back to School ChildSpree on Saturday, July 19.
The event gave underprivileged children a chance to shop for new shirts, dresses, shoes and other school clothes and accessories. Each child received $100 and had one hour to shop with a designated chaperone.
The Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and the Burbank Temporary Aid Center identified the kids who participated in ChildSpree as good candidates. Bearing the costs of school necessities can be rough on underprivileged families, especially inthe current economy.
Without Mervyns' ChildSpree, they might not otherwise be able to afford this childhood tradition.
Such was the case for
Xochitl (So-chee) DeHoyos and her sons. "It's a tremendous blessing,"she said of the shopping opportunity. "Words can't even express what it means to be selected. When we told the kids, they said, 'Mommy, really?' They went to bed at 7:30 the night before [to be ready]. We didn't even have to wake them up the next morning."
Her son
Christopher was one of the early-risers. "It was really exciting," he said. "I can't wait to go back and show my friends at school what I got this year."
He added, "You could pick out the stuff on your own. That was one of thethings that made me really happy. It's pretty cool."
That was a benefit expressed by other young shoppers, too.
"The kids were so excited to be here," said Burbank Boys and Girls Club Membership Director
Anna Ayala, "especially because they had no parents with them."
During the event, only the child and designated chaperone wereallowed inside the store.
"The kids were bright and shiny and smiling to be there. It's Christmas for them, and it's rewarding to see that." Ayala added
The Burbank Jaycees felt the same way.
"Seeing the smiles on the kid's faces at the end of the morning was incredibly gratifying for all of us," said Burbank Jaycees Community Development Vice President
Melissa Merritt. "ChildSpree represents true community collaboration between Mervyns andthe Burbank Jaycees. Our members enjoyed the opportunity to not only volunteer on the day of the event, but to be involved in the entire planning process as well."
Mervyns donated $2,500 and provided a 15 percent discount for the shoppers. In addition, the Glendale store employees also donated backpacks, school supplies nd a book to every child.
The Burbank Jaycees received another $1,000 from the Studio City Rotary to provide the shopping opportunity to even more children.
They also partnered with two other Jaycee chapters to provide chaperones - Universal City/North Hollywood and San Fernando Valley.
Since its inception in 1992, Mervyns has donated more than $19 million andserved more than 190,000 children through ChildSpree. The first event was held at the Torrance Mervyns and, a year later, expanded to several other stores in Southern California.
ChildSpree's inaugural year also marked the beginning of the California Jaycees' partnership with Mervyns in the program. ChildSpree, a priority project for the California Jaycees, is an annual tradition where Jaycee chapters coordinate and plan a morning of shopping for local under-served kids at Mervyns locations statewide.
The Burbank Jaycees is a group of young adults aged 21-40 who enjoy community service, a wide array of social activities and personal and professional development.
One of the fastest-growing young people's organizations in the world, it is anot-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the city of Burbank and surrounding communities, and is part of the larger Junior Chamber International organization.