BATON ROUGE - Around 2,000 students in East Baton Rouge Parish went home with a backpack full of essential school supplies after attending the Joe Burrow Foundation's "Burreaux's Back-to-School Kickoff" on Sunday.

This event, held at Elite Training Academy, is part of the Joe Burrow Foundation's primary goal of providing resources and support to underprivileged communities.

"We've had great help from volunteers and part of our board for the Joe Burrow Foundation, and a lot of people are willing to help and make a difference," Joe Burrow Foundation VP Jimmy Burrow said.

Kids got some exercise, learned about valuable resources in their community, and now have everything they need to tackle the school year.

With the help of some athletes from local high schools, the students competed in drills for tackling, throwing and agility.

"We want to build more than football players, we want to build young men. And the first thing you want to teach them is how to serve. You don't want to just take, take, take, you've got to be able to give," Liberty Magnet Head Coach Jimmy Zachery said.

After getting a workout in, kids and their parents visited informational booths from organizations like Girls on the Run South Louisiana and the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.

"Girls on the Run is a recipient of the 'Do Good Grant' from the Burrow Foundation, and so we got an invitation to come out and be a part of this awesome event, and we said, of course," Girls on the Run South Louisiana Executive Director Carley Fuller said.

At the end of the event, the kids received a backpack filled with supplies, including pencils, binders, markers, glue, and more.
For the parents of the students, the event lessens the stress of the back-to-school season.

"It's extremely stressful.... It's expensive, and it takes a lot of time. So yeah, this is pretty cool," parent Crystal Mitchell said.