Local backpack giveaway provides back-to-school supplies to area kids

The work is already underway ahead of Saturday’s rally. Volunteers were busy stuffing backpacks inside the North Lexington Family YMCA gymnasium on West Loudon Avenue for the giveaway this weekend.

The YMCA has partnered with Fayette County Public Schools, Setzer Properties and so many others to tackle this $70,000 initiative, which aims to help more than 4,000 families with the cost of back-to-school supplies.

“You’ll have folders, you’ll have tablets, you’ll have notebooks, paper, pencils,” Jessica Berry from the YMCA said on Wednesday, as the work continued around her.

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Students from Fayette, Jessamine and Franklin counties are all eligible for this assistance, and the rallies will be taking place Saturday at 15 different locations across those three counties. The supplies are mostly the basics, but do adhere to what the district requires, or prefers, and some of the supplies are age and grade-appropriate.

“We work with Fayette County Public Schools to make sure their list aligns with our list,” Berry said.

University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union is another partner, and beyond the financial assist, they sent helping hands too.

“It is huge. And it’s the way we show our commitment to Lexington, Nicholasville and all of the communities we serve, said Andrew Miller with the Credit Union.

Miller said the new YMCA branch in Nicholasville will be one of Saturday’s giveaway sites, and his crew plans on being there to help.

Berry said with the rising costs of back-to-school supplies, this giveaway has become more impactful over time. Every one of these stuffed backpacks will find a child in need, even if some remain after Saturday’s event.

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“Every year, families come to our family resource center coordinators, because they don’t have the supplies they need. We make sure, one way of another, that we get these supplies in the hands of kids that need them,” Berry said.

For a full list of distribution sites click here: Back to School Rallies | YMCA of Central Kentucky (ymcacky.org). Further, families will need to register for a backpack at one of the sites between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Saturday July, 27.