The Door hosts their fifth Back to School bash, backpack giveaway
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
The new school year is fast approaching, and The Door Christian Fellowship Church is helping kids prepare.
2025 marks the church’s fifth year raising funds for backpacks. Their Back to School Bash backpack giveaway allows families to get all the supplies they need for the upcoming school year for free. This year’s event is scheduled for July 26 at 7:30 pm at The Door Christian Fellowship Church, located at 2145 S. Cipriano Ave.
The first year the church hosted the event they only gave out 25 backpacks. This year, they’re planning on handing out 300. The church’s Outreach Director Paul Heimberg said they’re able to do this in part because of church members’ generous donations.
This year the church was even able to offer a special backpack — what they’re calling a “Super Backpack.” Heimberg said the Super Backpack will be filled with “as much school supplies as we could possibly fit in it.”
The Super Backpack has $150 worth of school supplies in it, while the other 300 backpacks have about $15 worth of notebooks, crayons, pencils, folders, and erasers inside them. The backpacks themselves are worth about $15.
Families will need to arrive at the church early, as the backpacks are first come, first serve. Volunteers will be at the front of the church with a sign-up sheet with 300 slots for children’s names. Families with multiple kids can sign up as much as they want as long as supplies last.
The Super Backpack will be raffled away to one lucky student.
When asked why the church does this, Heimberg said it was all about giving back to the community.
“We love helping the community,” he said. “We love seeing the kids’ faces.”
The Back to School Bash will offer other family-fun activities as well, including a mechanical bull, barrel train rides, a water balloon toss competition, a cake walk, a pull up bar, ring toss, a dunk tank, and football and basketball games.
