Every summer, Connie S. Amaya hands out a backpack with a side of a dill pickle and a Big Red to Lockhart students and families.
The retired educator started passing out backpacks six years ago, standing outside in the Texas summer heat.
“I saw the need,” said Amaya, who worked for the Lockhart school district for 46 years. Now, she said, the line for free backpacks wraps around the block.
Amaya has used her retirement money to buy about 2,500 backpacks over the years. Last summer, more than 1,000 parents and students came to get one.
“It was overwhelming to us,” Amaya said. “But of course it made us happy. [There was an] overwhelming number of parents that stood in the hot sun and did not leave until they got their backpacks.”
This past spring, she started a nonprofit to raise money to fill the backpacks with school supplies.
“Every year, prices go up on everything,” Amaya said. “We’re just expecting more, and we’re prepared for more.”
Amaya hopes to give away her 4,000th backpack this year alongside her grandson, JMAT Bernal, who helps run the nonprofit.
Amaya said she doesn't look at it as 4,000 backpacks, but rather 4,000 students she's impacted over the years.
Bernal said his grandmother has received a large amount of donations to keep the backpack giveaway afloat. He said he plans to carry on the event for years to come.
“We wanted a vehicle to be able to [give back],” he said. “I want to make sure my grandmother’s legacy lives on.”
The giveaway will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at Lion’s Club Lockhart — indoors for the first time. Amaya said she hopes the cool environment will make the event safer for families and more efficient.
“You can feel the excitement,” Amaya said. “To be able to give back to the community we’ve served is so fulfilling to us.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said Amaya had been passing out backpacks to Uvalde students every summer, but that was just on one occasion.