Hundreds of Colorado Springs-based military families recently received a needed financial boost as the start of the 2024-2025 academic year approaches.

Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that supports service members and their families, conducted its 17th annual Back-to-School Brigade on Saturday at the Space Foundation Discovery Center.

With the support of a host of local and national sponsors, Operation Homefront gave away 400 new, brand-name backpacks and filled them with plenty of school supplies, including notebooks, pens and pencils, highlighters and other classroom essentials.

The event was held primarily for families of enlisted service members, and the children of wounded, ill and injured veterans, according to regional manager Beth Desloges.

“This is generally a stressful time of year for families,” said Desloges, who coordinates Operation Homefront efforts in Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado.

“So it’s good to be able to take one thing off their plate. We’re hoping to send these kids back to school with everything they need.”

With the exception of Christmas, school-supply shopping is the biggest spending event of the year for parents, Operation Homefront officials said. On average, a family will spend about $600 on back-to-school supplies.

An expenditure of that size can be a problem for young enlisted service members and their families, particularly in Colorado Springs. According to data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a family with one child requires two adults to earn a combined $24 an hour, full time, to live comfortably in Colorado Springs. If the family has two children, that number goes up to $30 an hour.

Enlisted families, especially junior service members, rarely bring in that kind of income, especially with about 1 in 5 military spouses out of work.

“So many of our military families need budget relief,” said Desloges, a longtime military spouse. “We had one parent come to us and say, ‘This changes everything. I can buy new shoes for my kids this year.’”

The national nonprofit also holds annual baby showers for new military moms and offers Thanksgiving meals and a holiday toy event during the Christmas season.

“This is dear to my heart,” said event coordinator Bridgette Sanchez. “I was a military spouse for many years, so I know what these families go through. I love being able to help them get off to a good start for the school year.”

Alexzy Costello, who has spent 14 years in the Army and Navy, dropped by to pick up supplies for two of his four children.

“If my family is not taken care of, I can’t do what I need to do,” Costello said. “Events like this are really valuable for us.”

Rahmon and Kashia Hughes have three small children, the oldest of whom will begin kindergarten in the fall.

“(Operation Homefront) is great for families,” Kashia said. “They’ve helped us so many times, with the toy events and the holiday meals. The little ones especially like the Thanksgiving meals.”

“Any time there’s an event like this, it helps,” said Rahmon, an enlisted Army soldier. “This is a great organization.”

Since the Back-to-School Brigade began in 2008, Operation Homefront has saved families more than $60 million in back-to-school expenses, officials said. This year, they expect to distribute its 580,000th backpack.

“Life in a military family can be really stressful,” Desloges said. “We can’t solve all of their problems, but we can lighten their financial burden. We’re glad to be able to do that.”