EPHRATA — Verizon-Cellular Plus at 1115 Basin St. SW, Suite A, in Ephrata had something special in store for families on Saturday, where a rainbow of more than 30 backpacks lined the wall of phone cases.

Bags were filled with back to school essentials: notebooks, pens, rulers, colored pencils and more. Organized by national and local Verizon-Cellular Plus employees and vendor partners, kids could pick out their supplies on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“We are thrilled to be able to give back to our local community and help students kick off the school year with a brand-new backpack,” said Verizon-Cellular Plus President Adam Kimmet in a press release. “Our goal is to help make it a little easier for families to get these essential supplies so that students can start off the school year prepared and confident.”

While the campaign is national, the donations stay local. Items donated from one area were distributed to that same area.

The bags and supplies were either paid for or created by company partners, be it phone companies, phone case companies and software manufacturers, said Ephrata store manager Garrett Lybbert, such as Kyocera, Motorola, Speck, UAG, iQmetrix, Strataflo and Gadget Guard.

Customers sprinkled in throughout the day, chose their pack and walked out a little more prepared for the start of the school year.

“I just like that we get to do it,” Lybbert said. “Being a business in the community, we see people all day. We interact with them, we do our best to help them out with their phone needs and tech needs and that kind of thing, but it’s nice to just be able to help the families kick the year off a little smoother. It’s one less thing they’ve got to worry about.”

Sam Fletcher can be reached via email at sfletcher@columbiabasinherald.com.