Close to 2,000 students are expected to get much needed school supplies at the eighth annual Tools 4 School at St. Paul Lutheran Church.

The annual event starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church grounds on Center Street. Joining the church will be Christ Episcopal Church and First Methodist Church. The latter will host a summer fest at the same time.

“It is open to anyone,” Nancy Corn, organizer, said. “The only thing we ask is we prefer the child be with them.”

Last year 1,800 backpacks filled with supplies were given away.

“We’ve prepared for 1,950 students this time,” she said. “We talk with the different teachers about what to put in the bags.”

Supplies came from donations from community churches as well as support from All Saints Lutheran Church in Worthington, Ohio.

“They prepare about half (of the backpacks) and are sending down 30 people to help,” Corn said. “We wouldn’t be able to do that without them. They have taken on Ironton as a project.”

In fact All Saints church was the impetus for the program when the congregation came to St. Paul to conduct giveaway in 2005.

“They brought health care things like toothbrushes and toothpaste as well as school supplies and used clothes,” Corn said. “The school supplies went over really big. That is how Tools 4 School began.”

Any supplies leftover on Saturday will be donated to area schools.

“We try to work with Headstart or the city schools,” she said. “Last year we took some over to Ashland. We try to give them to whoever needs them.”