Partnership prepares Pasco County kids for school. WESLEY CHAPEL - AdventHealth partnered with Life Church on Aug. 1 to help local students head back to class with confidence through the church's annual Back-to-School Outreach event. Throughout the morning, families received shoes, backpacks and school supplies while volunteers worked alongside community members to help students prepare for the first day of school. AdventHealth helped provide 450 pairs of new shoes for local kids and had volunteers onsite helping distribute resources and support families throughout the event. For many families, preparing for a new school year means making difficult choices as the cost of clothes, shoes and school supplies continues to rise. Events like this help ensure students can walk into the classroom with the essentials they need for a successful start. "I'd say the impact is huge," said Earl Watson, a volunteer from AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. "The climate we're living in, the economy, so many families are making sacrifices. This shouldn't have to be one of them." Life Church leaders say the outreach has become an important annual tradition that brings together churches, businesses, volunteers and nonprofit organizations to help local families prepare for the school year ahead. "Just a couple of years ago, we saw a huge need in our community for our students to not just go back to school, but to go back to school confidently - to go back with new shoes, new backpacks, with no one making fun of them," said Natalie Dougherty of Life Church. "Just having them fit right. It's extremely important." Life Church saw nearly 1,000 children participate in this year's outreach.

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