KIRO 7 went back-to-school shopping with local kids on Wednesday morning, giving students the clothes and confidence they need to tackle the upcoming school year.
Students gathered at the Old Navy in Bellevue to get their back-to-school shopping done with the help of KIRO 7, in partnership with The Salvation Army and Comcast Xfinity.
“These kids that are here today, that you see behind me… a lot of them, believe it or not, haven’t had an opportunity to go shopping for themselves, maybe ever. So, having this opportunity to pick out their own clothes, to get ready to go back to school, helps build their self-esteem,” said Major Roy Wild with The Salvation Army.
“It really does give the child an opportunity to say ‘I’ve got $150… I can spend $25 here, $15 on here...’ and it really helps develop those skills that they need for life as well," he added.
Comcast Xfinity was also there to help, donating $10,000 to The Salvation Army to support their afterschool programs and computer labs.
“We want to see our kids in our community be successful. So this is sort of a starting point to that, right? You start right, you feel good. But it’s also about bringing together community and partnership. And, I think to get the most impact requires collaboration and working together,” said Carla Carrell, Senior Director of External Affairs at Comcast Xfinity.
This effort helps students get set up for the school year feeling confident, and also takes some of the financial stress off appreciative parents like Narissa Manning, who gets to watch her 9-year-old daughter Nabria flex some newfound confidence and freedom while shopping on her own.
“I think that it shows her how to manage and figure out exactly what things she wants and stay within a budget. But, then also… not have me direct her on her clothes. She gets to pick them herself," said Manning.
“I was running low… a bunch of my clothes had like holes in them, so I was like ‘Dang, I need to get some new clothes,’" said student and shopper, Koby Onitsuka-Adams. “Don’t really get that allowance… so, doing this was like a really big, a really good opportunity to just get stuff that I didn’t have at home.”
Confidence, independence, and even some financial literacy — all helpful tools and life lessons that the kids can pick up and carry into the rest of the school year, along with their brand new outfits.
©2025 Cox Media Group
