TORRINGTON – It was a warm Saturday morning as a line of parents and children formed outside the Cellular Plus building. Groups of parents were seen chatting and catching up with other parents while their children laughed and giggled as they played little games together to pass the time. With school beginning in just a short period, many parents in the community are gearing up for annual back-to-school shopping. The folks at Cellular Plus in Torrington have been making school shopping easier and cheaper for some parents and children in the community.

“Every year, we ask customers if, with their purchase, they would like to include a backpack donation to a child in need in the area. The donation is $10/ backpack or child,” store team lead, Crystal Gouveia said. 

The backpacks come ready for the student’s first day of school, according to Gouveia.

“The backpack comes with school supplies already in it. Spiral notebook, ruler, pencils, pens, crayons, a folder,” Gouveia explained.

This year the program was successful thanks to local customers and their donations to the event. 

“We have had some great turnouts over the years, and this year, we had a family donate 86 backpacks,” Gouveia explained.

Cellular Plus has been helping parents with school supplies for about five years, according to Gouveia. Gouveia explained that the store is owned by Adam Kimmet and based out of Montana.

“They always send us at least 72 backpacks regardless of how many donations we get. If we get more donations, they will send more backpacks. If we get less donations, they allow us to give those backpacks out till they are gone usually within a day or two,” Gouveia said.

According to Gouveia, Cellular Plus still has some backpacks to distribute for the 2024-2025 school year. 

“From our last update we had 18 bags left,” Gouveia explained Monday morning. “And we’re able to distribute till Tuesday. If we have leftover bags, we send them to a store that ran out in their giveaway, and they aren’t just sitting in a closet somewhere.”

According to Gouveia, Cellular Plus the nearest sister stores are in Douglas, Cheyenne and Laramie.

Local student, Sydney Wells waited in line patiently with her mom, Abigail, for a free backpack during Saturday’s event.

Sidney told the Telegram she was excited for arts and crafts this year during her second-grade school year, and she has plans to become a future elementary teacher. Sidney was pleased with her new backpack this year.

“I like the color of it,” Sydney, age 7, said. “I got to pick which color I wanted.”