One by one they lined up, spelling out the letter “S” across the field of Pepperdine’s Alumni Park last weekend. Made up of different colors, styles and sizes, backpacks were laid out in unison by Pepperdine students, faculty and even Malibu Mayor Joan House.
The “S” didn’t stand for Superman—though the gesture was similarly heroic. It represented “School on Wheels,” an educational nonprofit that on Saturday broke the official Guinness World Record for the world’s longest backpack line—yup, it exists— which previously stood at 2,000.
Partnering with Pepperdine University for the school’s service-oriented “Step Forward Day,” School on Wheels accomplished the grand feat by displaying 2,710 backpacks. The backpack donation was valued at over $50,000.
The world-record day came on the 20th birthday for School on Wheels, which provides tutoring to homeless children. The backpacks will be gifted to homeless kids across LA County, many of whom live invisible lives in L.A.’s shelters, vouchered hotels and car parks.
“Homelessness is no longer that guy holding the sign at the end of the freeway. The fastest growing homeless are families with children,” said Catherine Meek, executive director of School on Wheels.
Sinead Chilton, a School on Wheels team leader, was the mastermind behind the big idea.
“When I shared the idea, everybody said ‘you’re mad!’ but I was like ‘what else have we got? 2,000 pencils?’ I wanted something visual in a long line and with the shape of Pepperdine, and with the American flags to commemorate 911, it just seemed like such a lovely fit,” said Chilton.
The “S” shape highlighted Step Forward Day, Pepperdine’s annual community service event. Kicking off the new school year, students and faculty awoke early Saturday morning and were bused out to locations around L.A. County to volunteer.
The Pepperdine Volunteer Center, which puts on Step Forward Day, partners with more than 200 community organizations and coordinates over 60,000 service hours worldwide each year.
“Our hope is that it’s not just today, but today is the first step toward a year of service, that is our aspiration,” said Pepperdine president Andrew Benton.
Meghan O’Neil, a freshman from San Luis Obispo, said it was eye-opening traveling to Skid Row to help repaint the walls of the Weingart Center homeless shelter.
“It was definitely a culture shock but humbling,” O’Neil said, “because I’ve been sheltered my whole life and I got to talk to some interesting people and act like a shining light to those people.”
Others were sent to places like the Dream Center in Edendale, Children’s Hunger Fund in Mission Hills or a community garden in Compton.
“It’s just giving up one of my Saturdays and we just gave 1,400 families in Ecuador food for a week, so I think it’s worth it,” said Monty Plattner, who volunteered at the Children’s Hunger Fund packing meals.
Not only was the record of the longest backpack line broken at Step Forward Day, but also the number of student volunteers, which registered in at 1,600.
Sara Jackson, vice chancellor at Pepperdine, attributes the increase to students becoming more connected to world issues through the digital age.
“The world has gotten smaller through the Internet. Students can see the suffering around the world and think, ‘Wow, why are we so lucky?’ I think they have more of an awareness than previous generations,” said Jackson.
After the morning of volunteer service, volunteers were greeted at Alumni Park with In & Out cheeseburgers, cold drinks and live student music.
“My favorite part of the day is in the morning when we do a count down and every one takes one step forward together,” said Megan Foremen, a junior and a special events coordinator at the volunteer center.
In the afternoon, students and faculty planted 2,977 American flags to honor the September 11th victims. The memorial will be on display throughout the month.
Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of Step Forward Day. In honor of the milestone, students were asked to sign up for 25 hours of volunteer service for this school year.
For more information on School on Wheels, visit www.schoolonwheels.org.
