As kids prepare to go back to school, parents can already feel the effects on their wallets.

The cost of essentials like backpacks, notebooks and writing utensils can add up quickly, especially when a family needs to accommodate more than one child, and even more so for those who may be struggling financially.Fortunately, West End Food Pantry stepped up to help those Monroe and Carbon County families in need.Amid the normal hustle and bustle of the Eldred Township Community Center on Saturday morning, the West End Food Pantry pulled double duty, supplying families with much-needed food, along with providing students with necessary school supplies."I think last year we gave out about 300 backpacks. This year, my guesstimate is that we have about 450," West End Food Pantry's Karena Thek said, pointing out how the school supply operation has ballooned since last year's first event.About an hour after opening, approximately half of the registered clients were taken care of, but there were plenty more to go, with family sizes ranging up to five children or more in some instances.Piles of backpacks were stacked across three large tables, with designs ranging from cartoon characters and superheroes for the younger lot, to more well-equipped bags featuring storage for phones and water bottles for high schoolers. Hundreds of notebooks, pencils, folders and glue sticks filled the remaining tables."I think all of their programs are awesome here. They do anything and everything they could possibly do for the kids, which is great. I have six, so any little bit helps. With backpacks, you're talking $20, $30 a kid, so it's definitely a big help," said Jenny Kramer, who came with two of her children. "This is above and beyond - they're not the $1.99 backpacks, they definitely went overboard."Kramer was surprised to find not just one, but a selection of perfect bags for her daughter Sierra, who happens to be a big fan of Disney's "Frozen.""It's beautiful. I love it because it's 'Frozen.' I have a lot of 'Frozen' stuff," Sierra Kramer, 4, who is getting ready for her first year of school, said about her bag.Volunteers happily assisted students in finding the right supplies to fit their needs, gleefully searching through stacks of backpacks and notebooks to find the perfect one for each customer."It's wonderful, absolutely wonderful. The kids love it," volunteer Donna Terrian said. "The kids have so many choices, colors, styles. It's great to see the children pick out their own backpack from such a large variety to choose from, along with the school supplies."Thek pointed out that the pantry's vast stock accumulated from local residents pitching in a little bit at a time."A lot of this is community members coming in, bringing one or two backpacks, buying what they can afford, but it all adds up to a huge quantity," she said.As students browsed the selection and stocked up for classes, smiles abounded when they found the perfect bag, and as Thek emphasizes, it's all thanks to a charitable community."The community turns out each and every year for this. It's unbelievable, the amount of supplies that come in, and it's all donations," Thek said. "It's the community coming together to get these kids ready for the first day of school."