WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Back to school time is exciting, but it can be financially stressful for parents who need to buy school supplies, new clothes and all the other items needed for kids.
News 3 met with the Williamsburg Police Department on Monday morning as they took action to help kids who need it the most.
They climbed stairs, knocked on doors and worked for months to organize a back to school drive.
The Williamsburg Police took donations and filled 126 backpacks with supplies.
On Monday, they went to several different hotels searching for kids in need.
“We’re just out giving back to the community,” said Senior Officer Aundrea Holiday with the Williamsburg Police Department. “A lot of times these are the forgotten kids, so we’re here at the hotels today.”
Holiday said this is the second year they have done the back to school drive, but this is the first time they traveled to hotels to hand out backpacks.
Each backpack contained paper, pads, markers, glue, crayons, folders and many other supplies.
“We want to give them that opportunity just like every other kid to go to school and not worry about things a kid shouldn’t have to be worried about,” said Officer Heather Ziegler with the Williamsburg Police Department.
Some were a little shocked when they saw the police at the door but quickly expressed gratitude when they realized why they were there.
“We don’t really expect a lot of things like this. It feels good,” said one father who didn’t want to be identified.
“Every bit of this has been donated, and we can’t thank our community enough. This is one of the reasons why I love working for the City of Williamsburg. The citizens are business partners have all come together to help us make this possible,” said Holiday.
Police also handed out raffles for parents to win a back to school shopping prize.
