Former Anaheim Beautiful board member Valerie van de Zilver, was looking for an avenue to help someone this summer. So she reached out to Sandra Sagert, Anaheim Beautiful’s president, who put her in touch with Anaheim Community Services Superintendent Joe Perez. He had the perfect project.

Joe told Valerie about Project SAY (Support Anaheim’s Youth) and mentioned the need for school supplies for underprivileged youth. Valerie and her team at Zilver Realty Group took on the project and in five short days before school began in Anaheim, prepared 60 well-stocked backpacks custom designed for teens.

“I was raised in a poor family,” said Valerie. “I remember times when people helped us out by providing clothes or buying things for me. I’m in a place where I can do the same for someone else and I’m very happy to do so.”

The backpacks were distributed at the Miraloma Park Family Resource Center where Valerie and her staff were able to meet several of the students who were receiving the packs. “It was nice to see them carefully selecting their favorite packs. We had a lot of fun picking out different styles, all by quality brands,” said Valerie. Each pack was filled with the same supplies including lined and graph paper, a three ring binder, pencil cases with pens, pencils and markers and a few flash drives. Additionally Valerie provided several boxes of extra supplies for future needs.

“We truly cannot do what we do here at the Center without the help of considerate individuals such as Valerie,” said Joe Perez. “Based on the looks on the kids faces, I know they too echo my sentiments.”