The Cellular Connection's Verizon Wireless Premium store in Aiken will be among the more than 400 such retail outlets around the country participating in the School Rocks Backpack Giveaway on Saturday.
Nationwide, 100,000 backpacks donated by The Cellular Connection, which also is known as TCC, will be distributed. There will be 200 available at the store at 3601 Richland Ave. W., Suite 701.
Families can bring their children to the store from noon to 3 p.m. to get the backpacks, which will be filled with various items, including pencils, paper, a pencil box, folders and glue.
One backpack will be given to each child present on a first-come, first-served basis while the supply lasts.
Leftover backpacks will be donated to local schools, according to a press release.
"We are grateful to be able to play a role in ensuring that as many children as possible are set up for educational success," said Scott Moorehead, CEO of TCC, in a prepared statement. "The backpack giveaway is something that both our employees and customers look forward to every year. It is our ultimate goal to make a difference, equally, in the lives of our employees, customers and the communities where we live; and this effort is one in which we accomplish all of these objectives."
The School Rocks Backpack Giveaway is one of TCC's four annual Culture of Good initiatives. The other programs are providing canned goods to local food banks, giving supply packs to 3,500 teachers across the United States and volunteering time to improve the environment.
Since 2013, TCC has donated 260,000 backpacks to schoolchildren.
Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013.