YUMA, AZ (KYMA, KECY) – The City of Yuma hosted its 12th Annual Back-to-Semester Rodeo early Saturday morning.

This is to help students who need supplies for the reopening of schools next month. The rodeo was held at the Yuma Civic Center at 7am.

The first 2,000 children received complimentary sync-style backpacks filled with school supplies upon arrival at the checkpoint. Additionally, children had to be present to receive their backpacks and were eligible to receive one.

Yuma City Special Events Coordinator Joan Pfizer also said the event was to help families in need, saying: With kids struggling to get their supplies off to a good start, this is a great resource for kids to get a free backpack with school supplies. ”

Pfizer said supplies included paper, pencils, rulers, highlighters, composition books, notebooks and erasers. Yuma Police Department, border patrol officers and others volunteered for the event.

If you were unable to attend the event but would like to reserve a date for next year’s rodeo, please visit the City of Yuma website. here.