Best Western staff joined World Vision Nov. 16 in distributing 300 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to fourth and fifth graders at Los Angeles’ Hyde Park Elementary.

World Vision’s Southern California Field Site Director Grace Lubwama said, “It’s amazing that we’re coming to Christmas when children would normally be asking for toys. But the kids were so excited to get backpacks. And parents were happy because instead of toys, we were giving the children things they need.”

In 2008, World Vision distributed more than 4,900 backpacks to Southern California children in need. Backpacks are filled with learning tools, such as pencils, pens, notebooks, rulers, erasers, and other essentials. Backpacks are distributed throughout the country to children in homeless shelters, low-income housing complexes, and other places where high-need populations are concentrated.