SPOKANE, Wash. – Back to school shopping is not affordable for every Spokane family, so the Garland Theatre is hosting a special showing of TMNT Mutant Mayhem Thursday to support local students getting the supplies they need to succeed.
“As a teacher, we see a lot of kids who maybe don’t have tennis shoes for P.E. Or don’t have the backpacks to carry things around,” said high school teacher Celena Breach. “A lot of kids don’t get to do the ‘back to school shopping.”
To help those struggling students shop, 100 percent of $5 ticket sales for Thursday’s 6 p.m. showing of a movie about teenage mutant turtles will go towards helping local teens.
“The community has been so supportive to us, that we were like ‘how do we give back,” Garland Theatre owner Jasmine Barnes said.
Their first thought was to reach out to Mister Giving Back Spokane himself: Rick Clark.
“For them to reach out and say they wanted to help our nonprofit…this is great,” Rick said.
Rick told the theatre owners he’s currently collecting donations for his third annual Back to School Shopping event.
“Being a kid who came from poverty in Spokane and started almost every school year with dirty clothes and used clothes, it’s extremely personal to me,” Rick said. “When you can start a school year with brand new clothes, it can actually lift you up for an entire year.”
Rick’s goal is to provide 50 Spokane students with a 500 dollar VISA gift card to shop for school.
“The first year we took 25 kids, the second year we took 77 kids which is out of this world,” Rick said.
Franklin Elementary School Third Grade Teacher Michelle Stowll volunteered during last year’s back to school drive and saw firsthand the impact it’s making.
“They were so happy to come show me all their purchases, and they just felt so proud,” Michelle said. “The pure joy they had of just being able to get new clothes they might not have had and the relief on parents faces that they were able to provide their kids with something they might not have been able to.”
If you aren’t able or interested in seeing Thursday’s 6 p.m. showing of TMNT Mutant Mayhem for $5 admission at The Garland Theatre, you can support this drive and local students back-to-school needs by visiting the Giving Back Spokane website.
