Packing days this month, event Aug. 5

It’s hard for many of us to imagine that receiving a gift of school supplies and a backpack can bring happiness and smiles to children. It is also hard to imagine what it would be like to arrive on the first day of school without the items needed to assist with the learning process.

For the 13th straight year, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ironton is hosting its Tools 4 School backpack giveaway event, set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at the church.

However, the church is currently accepting donations for the event and will conduct two packing days, where backpacks will be filled with school supplies, at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 11 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 25.

“This event helps out a lot of kids’ parents who don’t have the money to buy school supplies, so they can spend their money on clothes and other things their kids need,” Mike Corn, one of the event’s volunteers, said.

Items needed for the giveaway include coloring books, fat pencils, 24 packs of crayons, story books, #2 pencils, glue sticks, big erasers, blunt scissors, pencil boxes, wide-ruled notebook paper, wide-ruled spiral notebooks, pointed scissors, folders with pockets, highlighters, dry erase markers, pencil-top erasers, 1-inch 3-ring binders, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, college-ruled notebook paper, college-ruled spiral notebooks and composition notebooks.

The items will then be split up to fill the needs for each backpack in grades Pre-K through 12.

Monetary donations to buy school supplies will also be accepted.

For more information about Tools 4 School, to donate or to help participate in the packing days, contact St. Paul Lutheran Church at 740-532-4727 or by email at office.splc1903@swohio.twbc.com.