La Rosa Family Services is a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist victims of domestic violence and abuse, to prevent future abuse, and to promote the health and safety of children by raising community awareness, empowering individuals, and offering positive alternatives to families.

Last week had the opportunity to photograph La Rosa and its volunteers  do something wonderful for the community; they held their Annual Back to School Drive and Health Fair. Their goal was to increase awareness of domestic violence and prevent it from spreading to even more people’s lives.  They helped about 3200 underprivileged students from HISD in the Southwest/Alief area by providing them with free backpacks, school supplies, uniform shirts, socks, undergarments and groceries. Adjoining the event was a health fair that distributed preventive information for thousands of families in attendance, and a fun fair for the children to enjoy music, entertainment, games and prizes.

The was event was such a huge success!  Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, even came out to show her support for the organization and cause.  And LaRosa’s gracious 100+ volunteers gave out ever single of those free backpacks.

Want to know what 3200 families looks like?  It was as busy as Disney World on a good day.

And a big THANK YOU to all of the companies, organizations, and sponsors that donated their time and energy!