By Don Tagala, ABS CBN North America News Bureau
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Jersey City, NJ. - Hundreds of schoolchildren and their parents lined up to get free back-to-school giveaways at the Audubon Park in Jersey City, New Jersey this weekend.
Organizers said they have 3 thousand book bags filled with school supplies to give away. Pencils, pens, papers, notebooks, crayons and even a calculator were included in each gift bag.
Many school kids, who received the goody bags said, with these new back-to-school freebies, they were more excited to go back to school.
Filipino Community leader Rolando Lavarro spearheaded the back-to-school giveaway event. He said he has plans to run for councilman in the 2013 local elections in Jersey City to better serve the community in the near future.
“During these tough economic times, it’s really difficult, people being laid off, houses are being foreclosed on, people are worried about their jobs – it would be great to provide free book bag and school supplies,” said Lavarro.
Filipino-American Jennie Jonson, who has four school kids, said back-to-school shopping is a yearly budget breaking affair. “(this is) definitely a big help, and then I have to cut down on buying the book bag and extra school supplies, so it’s great!,” said Jonson.
Filipino-American volunteers came out in full force to support Lavarro’s “Back-to-School Giveaway Event.” One of them was former Philippine television and movie star Estella Ruiz-White.
White said, “Alam mo ang sarap nung feeling na hindi lang Filipino yung natutulungan mo kasi akala natin sa Pilipinas lang yung mahirap ang buhay, dito reality na hindi lang sa Pilipinas, all over the world so it doesn’t matter kung anong klase ng tao ang gusto mong tulungan.”
(You know, It feels really good to be able to help out not just the Filipino-American community but the whole Jersey City community at large. Many would think that life is so much better in the US but little do they know that just like the Philippines, many American are also feeling the economic pinch. It doesn’t matter whether who you are helping, whether Filipinos or not.)
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