Northern Kentucky’s largest annual school readiness event is set for Saturday, Aug. 8 in the parking lot at St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s Covington campus at 1500 James Simpson Jr. Way.
The Backpacks Bonanza school supply give-away will be from 9 a.m. to noon.
The goal of this year’s event, sponsored by Northern Kentucky Harvest, is to provide at least 1,175 backpacks filled with new school supplies to children from low-income families in grades pre-school through 12th grade, including those who are home-schooled. Papa Johns, food sponsor of the event, will provide free pizza.
Most backpacks will be given away at the Bonanza on a first-come, first-served basis. The rest will be distributed through agencies that partner with Northern Kentucky Harvest, including Welcome House, Be Concerned, the Brighton Center, the ION Center, Fiesta, and the Esperanza Latino Center.
This year marks the 26th year of Northern Kentucky Harvest’s annual event which began by distributing 150 backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies. The backpacks to be distributed this year will push the total over the years to more than 21,000.
Northern Kentucky Harvest Board President Paul Gottbrath said low-income families who already struggle to pay for food, shelter, clothing and other necessities for their kids often find it difficult to accommodate back-to-school expenses. The new backpacks filled with school supplies provided by Backpacks Bonanza gives them one less need to worry about.
Northern Kentucky Harvest