Weston Lanpher
On August 13th from 10 am to 2 pm, more than 20 organizations plus 6 area churches threw a huge back-to-school bash for local area residents at Sapulpa High School. School supplies were provided by Caring Community Friends including rulers, erasers, binders, pencils, pens and more and drew over 2000 people from Sapulpa. 600 students received the aforementioned supplies and were able to participate in a school supply scavenger hunt where booths would give additional supplies.
In addition to the supplies, and to help ease the burden of the frankly brutal heat, First Baptist Church of Sapulpa dolled out snow cones while First United Bank handed out ice cold water and, since the event ran during lunchtime, popcorn and hot dogs were also available with an inflatable tent present to furnish shade and a comfortable eating experience.
Door prizes were distributed at the top of the hour including bikes, cameras, tablets, headphones, and more.
A “selfie station” was also present with props and toys to take the goofiest possible pictures.
The Sapulpa Police, Fire Department, and EMS were also in attendance with their vehicles to stage a “Touch a Truck” experience where students were able to touch and sit in the vehicles while asking many questions of the brave volunteers. A K9 unit was also present: a Belgian Malinois named Pepper.
Live music by Shoulder2Shoulder Ministries kept the atmosphere feeling light and fun.
Inflatable bouncy houses and slides were supplied by a couple of area churches.
While quite hot, there was a mild breeze to keep everything relatively bearable and everyone had a smile on their face thanks to the generosity of the sponsors.
Hopefully, this is the first annual edition of a useful and delightful event!
