By Courtney Fischer
WTAE.com
HOMESTEAD, Pa. —The cost of school supplies can really add up, especially for parents with more than one child heading back to class.
This year, thanks to former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch and his Best of the Batch Foundation, dozens of kids received free backpacks loaded with supplies. It's part of the 8th Annual BatchPacks for Kid Program to help families in need.
Dozens of boys and girls excitedly waited in line at Barret Elementary School in Homestead on Tuesday to get their backpacks. Looking at their faces, one would think it was Christmas morning. They filled the backpacks with everything from notebooks to pencils, all of it, for free.
"There's a lot of 'thank yous' from the kids, 'thank you,' and they're smiling because now they get a chance to pick out the book bag they choose, and have a chance to go down the line, and pick out their school supplies," said Charlie Batch, creator of the Best of Batch Foundation.
It's the eighth year the Batch Foundation has supplied underprivileged kids with new school supplies.