Community backpack giveaway set for Tuesday

MOSES LAKE — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin and its community partners will be giving away backpacks in the Larson community Tuesday.

The event is a group effort, said Boys & Girls Clubs director Kim Pope, among the club, Big Bend Community College, the Moses Lake Lioness Club and several local businesses.

“We knew that the kids out at the Larson housing area could really use some support,” Pope said. “So, I got connected to Lioness, and they provided $1,500 to help support this. And then Vyve (Broadband) donated a bunch of school supplies, and the Obsidian Tattoo Collective has been doing a school supply drive, so they're going to bring out all of the things that got donated from them out as well.”

The event will be held at the Big Bend Community College gym, and student athletes from Big Bend, along with volunteers from Sila Nanotechnologies, will distribute the supplies, Pope said. BBCC Athletic Director John Meeks will have a grill set up to offer free hamburgers and hot dogs for the families.

The Boys & Girls Clubs has about 200 members at its Larson Heights and North elementary school clubhouses, Pope said, and that’s only a fraction of the children who live in the neighborhood, many of them in low-income households. About 300 backpacks are going to be given away.

The giveaway starts at 4 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis, Pope said, and the backpacks tend to go quickly.

“The last time we did this, at the McGraw Clubhouse, I would say in about 45 minutes backpacks were gone,” Pope said.