DAVIS COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The nonprofit organization Operation Homefront handed out school supplies to military children at Hill Air Force Base on Sunday with some special guests: The Harlem Globetrotters.

Operation Homefront — with the help of Coach Sweet Lou Dunbar and players Torch Geroge, Bulldog Mack, and Wham Middleton of the Harlem Globetrotters — passed out supplies to 200 Air Force Reserve military children.

“We walked through the gymnasium today, the kids went crazy, and even being out here today, the kids are shooting hoops, and asking for pictures and autographs,” Torch George told NewsNation affiliate KTVX. “That’s what it’s about, putting smiles on people’s faces.”

The event on Sunday also helped welcome home service members of the 419th Fighter Wing who recently returned from deployment.

“Being able to be back home … back as a family, with my kids, with my wife, uh, it’s just … it’s awesome to be back home,” TSgt. Robert Porter said. “Having something like this, where we can all get together and kind of share that same experience with everyone else who’s going through it is really fun.”

Sunday’s event was part of Operation Homefront’s annual “Back-to-School Brigade,” coinciding with similar events happening across the United States. The nonprofit said tens of thousands of military children benefit from the annual program, which is now in its 17th year.

Operation Homefront said back-to-school spending is the second biggest “spending event” for parents each year, and the program is “a crucial resource for military families who may face financial hardship or other challenges as they navigate the back-to-school season.”

Since the Back-to-School Brigade program began in 2008, it has helped families save more than $60 million in back-to-school expenses, the nonprofit said.