Drive helping needy Carson kids

Volunteers are working to collect hundreds of backpacks and school supplies to benefit Carson City children and teenagers in need.

The "Backpack Attack" drive is trying to collect about 400 backpacks along with the school supplies by the end of the month for distribution.

The backpacks and supplies will be donated the Ron Wood Family Resource Center, Division of Family and Child Services and the Carson City School District's Kids in Transition program.

The Carson City Soroptimist Club and Platinum + Salon & Spa are working together on the Backpack Attack collection this year.

Sally Zola said she volunteered to help with the program after she learned the founder, her hair dresser at Platinum +, was retiring last year.

The program is too important to stop, Zola said, because there are so many people who need help in Carson City.

She was in a situation similar to many of the children when she was young, she said, and she knows how important kindness is.

It's great, she said "just to have the feeling that someone is thinking of them."

Loretta Roche, another volunteer, said people have been very generous but the slow economy has somewhat hurt donations this year.

The hard times are obvious not just by the number of donations, but by the higher number of people asking for help, she said.

Carson City unemployment was at 6.6 percent in July, according to the State of Nevada, compared with 5 percent the year before.

There was also a benefit for the program Friday night at the Brewery Arts Center hosted by the Carson City Active 20-30 Club which aimed to raise thousands of dollars for the Kids in Transition program, that serves children in the school district who are homeless or live in motels or campgrounds.

People can drop off backpacks for children 6 to 18 years old through the end of August at Platinum + Salon & Spa, 716 N. Carson Street, Ste. 110; Kummer Kaempfer Law Firm, 510 W. Fourth St.; Capital Ford Mercury, 3660 S. Carson St.; and Realty Executives, 1071 S. Carson St.