As the summer winds to a close and a new school year approaches, one North Alabama company spent this past Sunday donating school supplies to local families in need.

The Verizon Wireless store in Hazel Green was just one of over 1,000 TCC and Wireless Zone locations participating in the annual “Schools Rock Backpack Giveaway.”

Organized by Round Room, LLC, one of the country’s largest Verizon Authorized Retailers with more than 1,200 TCC and Wireless Zone stores nationwide, donated 120,000 backpacks full of school supplies this year to elementary, middle and high school students.

It’s easy to see why the Hazel Green Verizon store was packed 45 minutes before the giveaway started as the average cost of school supplies for families is around $890 according to edweek.org.

Any remaining backpacks will be donated straight to local schools in the area.

Since its inception in 2013, Round Room has been able to provide more than 1.3 million children with a backpack, living out its deep commitment to giving back and strengthening the local communities it serves.

For the 12th iteration of their annual event, the company also introduced the “Golden Ruler” backpacks this year as an added bonus for the kids lucky enough to find them.

Those who receive a backpack with a golden ruler keychain will receive a $100 Visa gift card to go toward other back-to-school related costs and a $1,000 reward for their school. There were 10 backpacks overall containing the golden ruler including one at the Hazel Green location.

TCC Operations Manager Dominque Wilkins, who ran Sunday’s event, spoke to HBJ about the importance of the annual event.

“It’s important that we’re able to do this every year so that the families who need it know about it,” Perkins explained. “Just being able to make sure every student has everything they need in order to start a new school year and make it easier on the families. We also have a lot of volunteers helping with food and entertainment while they wait.”

With many locations featuring additional elements at their backpack giveaway events, such as the karaoke setup and other local business vendors in Hazel Green, the group continues to find new and innovative ways to produce an impactful event every year.