Lakewood Ranch student gives back(packs)

For the third year, 15-year-old Sophia Lopez is supplying local students with backpacks, notebooks and other school necessities.

By Amanda Sebastiano
| 1:50 p.m. August 5, 2015

Sophia Lopez, a sophomore at Lakewood Ranch High School, has been collecting school supplies for in-need students for three years.

East County
News

When she’s standing in line at Walmart or Staples, 15-year-old Sophia Lopez garners the attention of shoppers waiting behind her.

It's not necessarily her as it is what she's buying: hundreds of erasers, crayons and markers.

“When you buy out all the rulers, erasers and crayons, it takes you a while to check out," Lopez said, laughing. "The cashiers are patient, but people behind us sometimes look at us like we’re crazy.”

While out running other errands, Lopez and her mother, Cristina, always make a special stop by the school supply aisle of local stores.

The art of picking a backpack

Batman, Hello Kitty or plain purple: Deciding which backpack design will fit the needs of the students on her list is no small task for Sophia Lopez.

She wants the students for whom she buys backpacks to feel comfortable sporting the over-the-shoulder holder she gives them.

When deciding which backpack to buy for K-12 female students, Lopez uses personal experiences.

“I think, ‘Would I want to carry that all day?’” Lopez said. “I also think about what I see my friends and other girls at school carrying.”

The teenager buys primarily Hello Kitty and bright-colored backpacks for girls in elementary school. Middle and high school-aged girls receive dark or bright-colored backpacks, but Lopez chooses one-color ones, rather than those with designs, she said.

When choosing backpacks for boys, Lopez recruits her cousin, Lucas Villegas, to help her select appropriate styles.

Boys in middle and high school typically prefer neutral, or one color, backpacks without designs, and elementary-aged male students enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, cars, and superhero-themed backpacks.

“Some of the students really look forward to receiving their backpacks, more than the other supplies,” Lopez said. “It’s rewarding to see their faces when they get a backpack they really like.”

They comb the aisles for buy one get one free, or buy one get one 50% off deals, and they stuff their family van full of school supplies.

The sophomore at Lakewood Ranch High School isn’t hoarding school supplies for a rainy day. For three years, Lopez has collected school supplies for in-need K-12 students in Manatee County through her program, The Backpacks That Give Back.

She works with the Grandparents as Parents (GAP) program through Manatee Children’s Services to acquire names and grade levels of local students who can’t afford school supplies for the upcoming school year.

The GAP program provides mentoring programs for local children and resources for their guardians. Many of the participants live on fixed incomes.

She’s bringing the backpacks, pencils, pens, notebooks, folders, markers, crayons and other school supplies to the Aug. 15 GAP meeting — the last one before school starts Aug. 24.

Lopez is helping provide school supplies to 60 students this year through the GAP program. She hopes to stuff 100 backpacks.

For the first time, Lopez is working with the Alta Vista school in Sarasota to provide school supplies to a few students there, too.

“A large population — around 94% — of students there relies on free or reduced lunches,” Lopez said, based off information she received from a family friend and volunteer at the school. “I know those students need help, and I’m going to do the best I can."

She plans to stuff as many backpacks as she can afford.

“We think it’s wonderful that she’s reaching out and using her own resources to help less fortunate families,” said Dehea Smith, assistant principal of Alta Vista. “These children will really benefit from her work. It’s great when high school students think outside the box in their own community; this just gives you goose bumps.”

Community service

The backpack project started as an idea Lopez hoped would aid her in getting accepted into the National Honor Society in seventh grade.

The group required a leadership activity that also benefited the community.

“I liked the idea, and everything just clicked,” Lopez said. “Collecting supplies was something I was good at, so I've kept doing it."

Lopez funds her program through donations from local residents and businesses, such as banks and retailers. A local SunTrust and Sam's Club have collected donations from employees.

She begins the process of collecting the supplies in June.

Once school ends for the summer, Lopez mails a letter explaining the project, along with a letter from Children’s Services. Lopez sends letters to the same people and businesses that have already donated, but she also reaches out to new sources, too.

This year, she received more than $600 in monetary donations. She typically receives more money than supply donations, but this year, Lopez is receiving more supplies.

Lopez starts stocking up on supplies at the beginning of summer break. Her parents help her pay for the items until she receives donations.

Although she will graduate in two years, she hopes someone will piggyback on her idea to continue helping in-need students prepare for school, she said.

"Sometimes we get caught up wanting the newest things that we forget what's really important," Lopez said.

Next week, she will help distribute the filled backpacks to students, which is her favorite aspect of the program, she said.

A few years ago, Lopez watched a little girl in kindergarten race toward a Hello Kitty backpack she had been eyeing from across the room. She was the first student to the backpack, and Lopez hasn't forgotten the child's excited expression.

"She was so cute and had the biggest smile," Lopez said. “This project shows how special small things can be and what just $20 can mean for someone.”

For more information on the program or to donate, email [email protected].