It was 9 a.m. at El Camino Elementary School in Ontario. Class by class, students from Kindergarten through 6th grade poured into the auditorium.

In the front of the room, beside the stage was a tower of white boxes emblazoned with the colorful Yoobi logo. The children squirmed with excitement, wondering what surprises those mysterious boxes might contain.

School staff members welcomed the children and the assembly began with the acknowledgement of several student awards. Finally, it was time.

The United Way team was on hand, ready to get our “Yoobitude” on. The students cheered as we announced that one of those boxes would arrive in every classroom by lunchtime.

Yoobi is a relatively new school supply company with a mission to give back. As a matter fact, they’ve pledged to give one school supply to a child in need for every item purchased.

They’ve also pledged to make school supplies fun again. Gone are the days of boring mustard yellow pencils, instead replaced by bright blues, greens, and pinks.

As we began unpacking one of the mysterious boxes, revealing the hidden school supplies, they discovered pens, pencils, scissors, erasers, folders, pencil sharpeners, and much more. A total of 455 items - enough for a class of 30 students - were strategically packed inside each box.

Fortunately, it wasn’t just the students at El Camino who were blessed by this contribution. In the past month, United Way has been distributing a Yoobi box of supplies to 1,603 local k-6 classrooms in low-income neighborhoods across the Inland Empire.

“We instill in our students that college is a plan, not merely a dream, and we will do whatever it takes to prepare them for the future,” said El Camino Principal Gianna Roca.

To learn more, visit www.IEUW.org/ SchoolTools.