The NAACP branch in Killeen celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday by giving away more than 1,000 backpacks with school supplies to families.

With the help of several sponsors, they set up a drive-through at Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church.

While the organization has given out backpacks every year, meeting the expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic was quite the challenge.

“Whether its online or in-person, we still wanted to ensure that the students are set up for a successful school year,” said branch President Tanieka Moultrie.

While Killeen ISD says they’ll help provide school supplies, the branch wanted to give supplies to help protect students during in-person classes.

“We put in PPE gear,” she said.

“They’ll have hand wipes, face masks and hand sanitizer in those bags.”

As the cars drove through, many parents expressed their gratitude.

“The biggest issue with the pandemic has been just total uncertainty as to how the school year is gonna go,” said Kyle Hinton.

“We don’t know whether it’s gonna stay virtual, go to the classroom and what social distancing will look like. This event gives us a sense of stability. We have school supplies and we have something that’s kinda getting us ready for the year.”

Moultrie says she’s just happy to give back in a time of such uncertainty for students.

“This is near and dear to my heart,” she said.

“I believe it takes a village to raise a child. We’re that village and it means so much to me that we were still able to do this.”

—KWTX