Pasadena Officers Deliver Backpacks to Three Art Contest Winners

Two Pasadena police officers joined Hyatt Place Pasadena staff on Aug. 15 to congratulate three students who won an art competition the hotel staged at the city’s 30th annual National Night Out, and to hand over their prizes: backpacks filled with school supplies.

The presentation came 11 days after the Aug. 4 gathering at Jefferson Park, and the Police Department said the hotel had helped extend the spirit of National Night Out beyond the event itself, according to the City Manager’s Weekly Newsletter published Aug. 20.

Fifteen students entered the competition for the chance to win the backpacks, and Hyatt Place guests voted to select three winners, the newsletter said. Each winner received a backpack filled with supplies for the new school year.

After the competition, Hyatt Place invited Police Department patrol officers to join the celebration and help present the prizes. Officers Marko Mendoza and Jose Barraza distributed the backpacks on Aug. 15. The department thanked the hotel for what it called its generosity.

Pasadena held its 30th annual National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Jefferson Park, 1501 E. Villa St., a new location for the event. The Police Department’s Community Relations Section hosts one official citywide gathering and separately invites neighborhoods, businesses and community groups to stage their own on the same night.

National Night Out was established in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch and is held nationally on the first Tuesday of August.

Families with students in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $863.86 on back-to-school items this year, up from $858.07 in 2025, with school supplies accounting for $146.45 of that, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey with Prosper Insights & Analytics. “Affordability is a concern for families and a top priority for retailers as we enter the back-to-school season,” NRF Chief Economist Mark Mathews said.

Information about the Pasadena Police Department is posted at cityofpasadena.net/police, and the department posts on social media as @pasadenapd.

Pasadena Unified School District opened its 2026-27 school year on Aug. 17, two days after the backpacks were handed out, under the theme “The Power of Us: Forward Together.” “As we prepare to welcome students back on August 17, I am filled with optimism for the year ahead,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said this month.