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During one week in July, busloads of low-income students from across the Valley are transported to a magical place – the annual distribution event. The week prior to the students arriving, the Phoenix Preparatory Academy, the official site of the Back to School Clothing Drive Distribution, is buzzing with more than 2,500 volunteers who transform the gym into a department store shopping center for the kids. The following week, the school representatives arrive with their registered children who are then assigned a personal shopper (volunteer)and go on their own personal shopping spree receiving the following all free:

Each student receives:

2 Polo Shirts & Shorts/Skorts	New Shoes
3 Pairs of Underwear	3 Pairs of Socks
Leather Belt	Sweatshirt
Backpack	School Supplies
Hygiene Items	Handmade items

Back to School purchases these items through our vending partner Team Shop Premiums. Here's how the two weeks unfold:

                  Anatomy of the Distribution

Week #1 - Set-up Week
Move in and Set-up - Volunteers work together to unload trucks filled with items purchased or donated throughout the year, count inventory, and set up each department in a layout designed to allow each child through several departments to do their shopping the following week. The typical set up week begins with:

Day 1 - Truck unloading day: 40 pallets of merchandise are delivered to the Phoenix Preparatory Academy, courtesy of our storage partner, Freeport Logistics, and unloaded into the gymnasium.

Day 2 - Inventory day and backpack setup: Thousands of shirts, shorts, sweaters, shoes and other merchandise are verified. Assembly lines are set up for one of the most popular days of our event – backpack stuffing day.

Day 3 - Backpack stuffing day: We call it the invasion of the teenagers because almost 1,000 high school kids from across the Valley descend on the gym and stuff backpacks faster than you can imagine. High school kids from Desert Vista, Brophy, St. Mary’s, Corona Del Sol and others stuff over 5,000 backpacks full of crayons, pencils, paper, notebooks, glue, rulers, dental hygiene items and more, making it truly make this one of the most exciting days leading up to the Distribution event.

Day 4 – Department store setup: Now the gym makes its total transformation from a basketball gymnasium to a department store that rivals Target and Wal-Mart. Volunteers unpack and arrange merchandise on our shelves creating the following departments:

• Stitches of Love Department - A true shopping experience! Kids get to choose from beautiful hand sewn and store-bought items which include; shirts, dresses, skirts, tops, shorts and pants. There is also an accessory table where boys choose a hand-made key ring or zipper pull and a knit cap. Girls select from a dazzling array of purses, bracelets, scrunchies and skinny scarves.
• Walk in my Shoes Department - Girls and boys sneakers sizes 1 - 13 make up one of the most popular departments with volunteers and the kids.
• Dress for Success Department - School uniforms including shirts, shorts, skorts, belts, socks and underwear are provided based on the school color uniforms. Each child gets a white shirt and a second shirt specific to the school required color, a navy blue sweatshirt, navy or Khaki shorts or skorts depending upon the child's preference., a black belt, boxers, briefs, and girls regular styles along with crew cut, ankle, or knee-high white socks.
• Pack-full of Learning - Stuffed with pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, crayons, glue, and a variety of hygiene items, the backpacks are as popular today as when you were in school. Volunteers love backpack stuffing day drawing the most volunteers on any set up day throughout the week.

Then its time for Distribution as the following week is what all of our volunteers have worked so hard all week to prepare and our kids have waited all year for -- Distribution show time!

Week #2 - Distribution Showtime!
More than 5,000 students from over 130 Title 1 schools descend on Phoenix Preparatory Academy. Approximately 40 students from each school are bussed in from their respective schools and begin by registering in the auditorium. Each child has been previously selected by their school social worker or other administrator and comes with their registration slip already filled out with their clothes sizes, uniform colors and other details required to make the distribution success. Distribution begins at 8 a.m. and runs until approximately 3 p.m. each day.

After registration, the kids are escorted into the gymnasium and paired up with a personal shopper, one of several hundred volunteers who escort the children through the departments and fills their bag up with the items of their choice. Each child is fitted for the appropriate shirt, shoes, shorts, skorts, belts, and more personal items from the Stitches of Love department. After receiving all of their items including their shoes and backpacks, they are escorted back to the auditorium and then back onto their bus and back to their school. The entire process takes about one hour.

The smiles that leave with the kids is worth every minute you spend helping at Distribution. Volunteer a day, a week, or even one hour. You won’t soon forget the experience.