AL RASHID, Baghdad – More than 500 children in one of southern Baghdad's poorest neighborhoods received school supplies, shoes and sundry packs at a local school to kick off the new Iraqi school year and "Operation Backpack" Aug. 29.

 Soldiers from 5th Brigade Combat Team’s 68th Chemical Company and 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery Regiment, hosted a small carnival complete with a clown, face painting and games.

"Overall, the event went very well," said Chaplain Capt. John Bower, 1-21 FA.

The festival and backpack distribution was designed as a humanitarian effort, Bower said. The battalion looked at their sector of Al Rashid and determined the area around that school had the greatest need for help, he said.

 "They don't have anything, they're the poorest of the poor," he said.The area's residents are mostly farmers and really poor, he said. The kids run around without shoes and families live in poorly constructed homes, he noted.   "My heart feels for those people," he said. "I feel good when people get help."

 Bower had supplies and shoes sent from home. Then the idea "stuck" him in early July to mix what he had with a project thought up by 1st Lt. Elizabeth Willett, 5 BCT’s civil military officer for education.The idea for Operation Back Pack came about in mid-July, Willet said.

The former primary school teacher wanted to help local schools throughout the district. She also realized a lot of donations just wouldn't make it over here because of time and shipping cost.

The idea of giving kids and their teachers supplies isn't a new one, Willett said. UNICEF and a couple of other non-governmental organizations already do it here in Iraq, she said.

But this plan was different. Instead of having the pens, pencils, paper and backpacks sent over from the U.S., she wanted to employ locals to gather or make them.

The 5th BCT sponsors a sewing center in Al Rashid and a local contractor was brought in to buy the supplies.

 When the idea first came out, she had a lot of ideas coming her way. Another contractor said he wanted to help schools with "Push Packages" that would cost $20,000 a piece. The packages would include new furniture, school supplies and sports equipment. 

This idea proved to be too expensive, since the budget for civil-military projects was cut after July 1, Willett said.

 "I wanted to affect people without cutting into our pocket book," she said.   Willett contacted a pencil maker and a glue company in the U.S. They agreed to donate two pallets of pencils and 10,000 tubes of glue, but the Army would have to pay for shipping.She said she couldn't ask for grants either because the Army isn't a charity.   Eventually she asked for help around Iraq and received two responses. AAFES wanted to donate but couldn't guarantee the backpacks would arrive on time. A local contractor came through and said he could buy the supplies for the right price: $1.50 per primary student, and $2.30 per secondary student.Willett could fill 15,000 backpacks for approximately $102,000. 

 Eventually teacher bags will be handed out, she said. They will have everything a teacher needs to start the school year, chalk, staplers and staples, paper clips and paper.   "All the essentials," she said.

All told, Willett estimates 600 kids received school packs and shoes at the first event. 

The kids there were all neighborhood residents and didn't matter if they attended that particular school or not, she said.

 It was a busy day for Willett. She had to organize where each of the boxes went and what each kid got. By the end of the day, she said she was thankful the first one was done.   One kid did make an impression on Willet: he said "thank you" to her. "And for that I gave him an extra backpack," Willett said. All she asked of him was to promise to stay in school.   Events like that will always make a lasting impression on kids, she said. The older kids will get the message to stay in school. The younger kids will remember they "got something."   People constantly said "Thank you" to Bower and the Soldiers who were there that afternoon, Bower said."I just think it meant a lot to them [that] we tried," he said. "We may come from a different land and are different people but the important thing is people know we care."