Kim Didra and GAP Ministries founder Greg Ayers fill one of the backpacks that will be given away in a series of family events at Amphitheater schools. Tonight, a Backpack to School carnival is at Prince Elementary.

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A secluded, converted barn in Oro Valley was abuzz last week with some pretty un-barnlike activity.

A mountain of backpacks in every imaginable color eclipsed any view of the entire south wall, and the pile grew by the second.

Volunteers in all shapes and sizes formed a sort of assembly line leading up to the mound, each person responsible for stuffing something into the backpacks as other volunteers brought them down the line and tossed them onto the pile.

Spiral notebooks, markers, glue sticks, erasers, pens, crayons, rulers, scissors, pocket folders — it was all there, enough for 4,200 stuffed backpacks in all.

This week, each backpack is finding a new home: All of them are being given away at mini-carnivals put on by GAP Ministries at each of the Title I schools in Amphitheater Public Schools.

A Title I school is any school with more than 50 percent of its students enrolled in the government-funded free- and-reduced-price meal program. The designation is frequently used to determine where the most financially needy families are in a school district.

Saturday marked the second time students at Lulu Walker Elementary, 1750 W. Roller Coaster Road, were treated to such a carnival, as GAP — a foster-care organization — began the program there last year.

That event was such a success that the organization decided to expand this year to cover all of Amphi's Title I schools, said Linda Schambach, coordinator of the backpack program, which has been dubbed Backpack to School.

Though the Walker carnival is over, six more festivals are scheduled in Amphi beginning tonight, complete with hot dogs, chips, drinks, jumping castles, carnival-style games, and of course, stuffed backpacks.

The carnivals are open to students who attend the school where a carnival is being held, and those students are welcome to bring their families for food and fun, Schambach said.

"The kids talked about it for weeks," Walker principal Roseanne Lopez said of the effect on her school from last year's carnival.

There were other unforeseeable but positive effects, she said. More than 40 people attended her first parent-teacher organization meeting last year because parents began networking with each other at the festival.

"The more parents know each other and know each other's children, the safer their kids will be," she said.

Parents expressed relief, too, she said.

"For some people, it's just shock," Lopez said. "Others say, 'Great, now I can buy some tennis shoes,' or 'Now we can buy two pairs of jeans instead of one.' "

Though about half of Walker's students receive free and reduced-price meals, all students are welcome to a free backpack, as is the case with all schools GAP is helping, Schambach said.

Prince Elementary, 125 E. Prince Road, has about 94 percent participation in the free and reduced-price meal program, principal Dondi Luce said. Her school's carnival is this evening.

"It's going to be fun to see the excitement on the kids' faces and to see their parents and see the school come together as a community," she said.

Though GAP bought the backpacks from a charity organization in Florida, the group has received donations of school supplies, volunteers and carnival goodies from local businesses and faith-based organizations including Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, the Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce, Office Depot, Arizona Car Care Centers and several churches.

So far, GAP has raised about $50,000 in donations and several thousand dollars' worth of goods, Schambach said.

"What we can't raise, we just cover the rest," she said.

Because it gets deep discounts from the supplier, the organization pays about $12 to buy and fill a backpack, she said.

The packs themselves seem fairly sturdy and come with retail price tags still attached, in the range of $29.99 to $39.99.

It's an effort GAP founder Greg Ayers said he hopes will continue to snowball. His ultimate vision is for GAP to help one additional school district each year until all Title I schools in the Tucson area are covered, helping about 79,000 students in all.

"Financially, that's a pretty big endeavor. We really need the community to step up to make it possible," he said. "This is the right thing to do for children in our community, whether you believe in God or you don't. This isn't a Christian thing. It's a community thing."

Northwest