Boys and Girls Club, Renee Marshall, JCI, LoveSCV, the city of Santa Clarita and other community sponsors are all working together to bring positive community engagement to 300 SCV elementary school, junior high and high school students (ages 5-18) each week for the first 3 weeks in August, beginning Thursday, Aug. 6

Volunteers will be doing a safe, no-contact drive-thru pick up of Peace Bags: activity bags filled with fun, hands-on activities that will foster positive community engagement and provide social-emotional support for children, tweens and teens.

“Each Peace Bag has been created with intention and love. We want to make sure SCV Youth and Teens have fun, free, engaging activities that will promote both physical and mental health. Each week of Peace Bags includes a 2-sided activities page that showcases fun activities using the supplies in the bag. We also have special sponsors that are providing extra free goodies each week of Peace Bags.

Please drive by – what we have in store will be fun for your children, teens and families,” said Renee Marshall, Education Consultant and Peace Bags Supporter.

“2020 continues to be a challenging year for everyone. We are glad to have the opportunity to collaborate with others in the community to provide local families with a little extra support. These grab-and-go eventsare open to all youth.”, said Matt Nelson, Executive Director of Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley.

“It’s been amazing to see the whole community rally around a common cause. We wanted to bring some joy and levity back to our students and their families – especially around back-to-school time,” said Susan Christopher, Director of LoveSCV. “Seeing so many organizations, businesses, and individuals collaborate so effectively and generously for the unity of our community has been really encouraging.”

We want to thank Panda Express which has so generously contributed free meals and books for local children as part of their Panda Cares Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the philanthropic arm of Panda Express. To honor the holiday, which takes place each year on Saturday, Aug. 8, Panda Express organized a surprise virtual storytime for the members of the Boys & Girls Club of SCV and surprised the kids with a video message filled with words of encouragement, followed by a dedicated reading of “All Are Welcome,” written by Alexandra Pendfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. In line with Panda Cares’ pillar of education, the organization also donated over 73,000 books nationwide to Boys & Girls Clubs aimed at developing reading skills, enhancing critical thinking skills, and broadening perspectives. Our Santa Clarita Valley grab-and-go Peace Bags will all have books them thanks to this\ effort.

“As a longtime supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs across the nation, we’re thrilled to celebrate Panda Cares Day together, and hope that these festivities bring a smile to the students’ faces,” said Dr. Peggy Cherng, co-founder and co-CEO of Panda Restaurant Group. “Children are our future, and it is important that we help them learn and grow with the appropriate resources so they can fulfill their highest possibilities.”

UCLA Health, California Credit Union, Stay Green Inc., Castaic Dollar Tree, and the City of Santa Clarita have also been incredibly generous toward these efforts – which is even more amazing given how difficult all of these times have been for local businesses.

All Peace Bag giveaways will be from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the following locations:

Thursday, Aug. 6: Boys & Girls Club of SCV – Newhall Clubhouse – including Panda Express meals for the first 250 children and teens (ages 5-18).

Thursday, Aug. 13: – Westfield Valencia Town Center (near Sears) – including back-to-school supplies. This will also be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate back-to-school by supporting our local restaurants, especially those at the mall.

Thursday, Aug. 20: –Boys & Girls Club of SCV – Sierra Vista Clubhouse in Canyon Country
School supplies will also be given to school-site resource centers in the Newhall, Sulphur Springs, and Hart school districts, as well as distribution in Castaic of Peace Bags and school supplies.

Donations are still needed. If you’re interested in donating or getting involved, please contact Susan Christopher at LoveSCV or Renee Marshall at Education@Renee-Marshall.com.