Start Smart holds a different feel this time around

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SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Start Smart was the same as it has been for the last four years, generous and joyous. But it was different, too.

The Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation hosted Start Smart at the Murphy Canyon Walmart store Saturday morning. The busses started rolling into the Walmart parking lot at 5:30 a.m., way too early for grown-ups but right on time for first- to fourth-graders being treated to a back-to-school shopping experience.

Mickelson greeted hundreds of guests at the door and mingled with other as they shopped. His daughters stocked supplies and helped kids find what they were looking for. Cartoon characters came to life and mesmerized young guests as they stood in line. Teachers who had come with their classes in years past returned alone to volunteer as helpers. Friends and family worked alongside Walmart staff and volunteers from other stores to do whatever had to be done to move thousands of people through less than a third of the store that was also open to the public. Fourteen cash registers rang up receipts non-stop for more than four hours.

That much was the same. But there was more, too.

With 6,500 kids from 35 of 42 San Diego County school districts now having been served, some invitees changed from districts that were wallowing in need to include some districts that had a mixed demographic.

Leighangela Brady worked in the Cajon Valley district several years ago when she brought a group to Start Smart.

"On the ride into Walmart the parents were crying with joy for this opportunity to clothe their children," she said. "On the ride back they were pinching themselves. They're still talking about it four years later."

Now Brady is a principal in a more affluent district, but still one with real needs, and so her new school was invited this year.

"We have single moms who haven't been in their current position in life previously," said Brady. "They have lost their marriage and lost their home and they're trying to maintain some stability in their children's lives. So often programs are aimed at the neediest areas but today there is real need in so many areas. These families are looking for any avenue for help."

This year women with college educations rolled their carts next to families for whom English is a second language best spoken by the children. One mother said thank you, gave a brief rundown of her work history in investor relations, including two layoffs, and asked if one of Phil's partners was hiring.

Phil didn't have Amy by his side for five hours; she was at home recuperating from breast cancer surgery. Phil's mother, Mary, had undergone the same thing a week after Amy last month.

A little girl stepped out of line and asked Mickelson for his autograph. He signed and chatted and as he crouched she stretched to hug him and softly said, "Thank you for inviting us. I'm praying for your wife and your mother."

Start Smart was generous and joyous as usual this year, but different, too.