ANDOVER – Last year, the Laker Back to School Bash gave away 535 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to start local schoolchildren off on the right foot for the year. This time, organizers think it’ll top 550.
“I think it’ll be more than that,” Venie Hinson, co-chair for the Laker Back to School Bash, said. “Every year it seems to be more. The need seems to be there.”
The Bash was held on Monday afternoon, Aug. 24, at Pymatuning Valley Primary School in the cafeteria.
About 40 volunteers worked signing families in, helping to direct them and stocking additional backpacks with the right supplies for the grade level as the tables cleared out.
Another dozen volunteers helped to stock the initial round of backpacks a few days before the Bash, according to Hinson.
Tables in the cafeteria were stacked edge-to-edge with backpacks, organized by grade level, with everything a child needs to get a good start on the school year.
The campus parking lot was full, and people queued up around the Primary School building just before the doors opened, it looked to be that busy this year, at the very least. The Bash coincided with an orientation and Meet the Teacher night at the middle and high schools.
A separate group of volunteers stood at the far end of the cafeteria with empty backpacks and piles of supplies, ready to stock the packs as necessary when the tables started to clear out.
The Laker Back to School Bash is a community event funded through donations and organized by about a half-dozen local churches, including the First Congregational Church of Christ, the local Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Laker Ruritans, and the PV Youth Philanthropy Club.
“We write as many requests for grants as we can,” Hinson said.
Once this year’s Bash is completed and stores begin discounting schools supplies on clearance, Hinson said organizers start buying them up to get ready for next year.
Hinson added that anyone who wishes to make a donation should contact Pymatuning Valley Primary School, which will forward the request to the Laker Back to School Bash organizing committee.
