Phoenix Suns donate backpacks filled with school supplies

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Fifth-grader Tiara Pierce and 350 other students at Crockett Elementary School received a big welcome back at school, as there were backpacks stocked with school supplies and classroom essentials waiting for them.

"This is pretty! I got a notebook and a lot of paper!" Tiara exclaimed. "Markers, the skinny ones, not the fat ones!"

It's a donation in the form of a surprise. The Phoenix Suns and Mercury put on a pep rally to get the kids pumped, delivering backpacks stocked with school supplies and classroom essentials.

"This school is very much needed and as far as you know, giving back these backpacks, so it's only right that we come back and do this thing for the kids," said former Suns player Steven Hunter.

Crockett was one of few schools chosen by the Suns' School and Learning Improvement Collaboration for this year's back-to-school backpack drive, and the faculty and staff say it was priceless to see the look on the kids' faces.

"So you can see the faces, how exciting it is not only for the teachers, but for the students to be able to start the year ready to learn" said Principal Sean Hannafin.

The students are so grateful to have supplies that belong to them and this time, they don't have to share.

"Sometimes, a lot of kids in the world don't have these kinda things, so we've got to take care of it," Pierce said.