The Armed Services YMCA in Harker Heights at 110 Mountain Lion Road hosted its fourth Healthy Kids Back to School Day on Saturday and, according to officials, broke a record attendance of those who they led to the four-hour Children’s Day event on Saturday that began. at 9 a.m
Armed Services YMCA-Killeen Marketing Director Lillian Bruner said Monday that the updated total number of people who attended topped 3,000 this year.
“Last year, under the COVID reductions, the crowd was 1,500,” Bruner said.
“It’s hard to accurately measure the number of people who came and went throughout the day, but we’re delighted that the turnout was beyond our expectations,” he said.
The event focused on students from pre-school to secondary school. It was open to the public and included entire families.
Bruner said, “We are in a pretty unique and nice position because we are members of the Armed Services YMCA-Killeen; however, unlike our other branches of the Armed Services YMCA, we have our own facilities special facilities and we are an extremely large organization, as well as facilities that allow us to operate similarly to other traditional YMCAs while being independent from them.
“The Armed Services component is that our core programs and services are specifically geared toward supporting and strengthening active-duty military families.”
“A total of 25-30 vendors filled the gym inside and were joined outside by inflatable bounce houses, US Army vehicles, the Harker Fire Department and the Harker Police Department Heights, free Kona Ice snow cones and a disc jockey,” Bruner said.
Vendors inside showcased both the Armed Services YMCA programs and a wealth of resources and services for the entire community.
The event was made possible with the help of several sponsors including USAA, Smile Doctors, Texas Materials Group, Kona Ice and Seton Medical Center.
As the kids entered the gym, they were handed a bingo card that listed all the vendors. As students visited each booth, vendors marked the card indicating that they had visited the vendor’s location.
Bruner said, “When the kids were done visiting all the vendors, they took their card and gave it to the workers at the USAA table and received a free backpack and t-shirt.”
According to Bruner, “We had 500 bingo cards that the kids could turn in for the backpacks, but we’re happy to say that we were able to give a backpack to every kid who participated.”
USAA handed out the backpacks. Smile Doctors sponsored the t-shirt raffle.
“A large number of vendors offered trinkets and prizes of all kinds, so it was a lovely experience to see the kids take home their goody bags, a backpack and a new T-shirt,” Bruner said.
Mark Cook, USAA military affairs representative, said: “We are one of the many sponsors of Kids Day and the kids are happy to get a backpack, but we are disappointed that there is a large shipment of school supplies that is going do it.” it wouldn’t arrive or the backpacks would be full. Like so many things in demand these days, they’re stuck in port.”
Candice Bossoletti and Michael Smith of Killeen, who work for Killeen ISD at Union Grove Middle School, took their children Henrik Smith, 5, and Kasey Rose Smith, 3, to visit their favorite retailer, the Harker Heights Library.
Killeen ISD Nutrition sponsored one of the most colorful vendor booths. Maria Infante, School Nutrition program supervisor, told the Herald, “The most popular fruit among KISD students is oranges. The students’ favorites at our booth were mangoes and bananas.”
Face painting was by far the most popular activity at Weldon Len Whitis Gymnasium as hundreds lined up to wait their turn.
Meredith Rogers of Harker Heights lined up with her daughter, Melee, 4, to get her face painted for the first time.
“She really wants to do this,” Rogers said. His younger brother William, 3 months old, was on the ride in a stroller.
The Bell County Public Health District sponsored a booth.
Nina Cobb said, “We’re here sharing information with parents where their kids can get vaccinated to go back to school.” More than 500 children have passed by our stand”.
Even Miss Fort Hood 2022, Spc. Kandice Harmon of Fort Hood’s Dental Activities Unit made an appearance at the Armed Services YMCA’s Children’s Day.
Harmon said, “It’s important for me to be at the YMCA to meet the kids and their parents and share how important education and school are to me. I’m a first-generation college graduate and if it weren’t for events like this, I would never have known the importance of getting an education.”
