By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
Students received free school supplies at Kelsey Scott Park on Sunday as part of a back-to-school event.
The event, which also offered free hot dogs, sodas and slushies, was sponsored by the Juneteenth Committee, along with the Corvette Chevy Club. School items placed in plastic bags ranged from crayons to three-subject notebooks.
David Campbell, president of the Jersey City reunion committee who helped with the event, said they were going to give supplies out Sunday until they were all gone.
“I’m sure each school is asking for certain things, and we won’t know what those are, so we’ll give out one of each item until it’s all gone,” Campbell said.
The event provided 300 hot dogs, a DJ and a barber who gave $5 haircuts for kids.
The event had several volunteers from First Legacy Community Credit Union, who helped pack plastic bags full of supplies.
According to Sherry Hawthorne, the event’s primary coordinator, Juneteenth has been having back-to-school events for the community since 1996.
“We’re providing more than 100 school supplies for kids,” Hawthorne said. “It’s about bringing the community together. We’re just trying to do positive things for our youth.”
Hawthorne said the event was a success and expected it to be their biggest turnout yet.
“Usually it’s about 200 to 300 people,” she said. “This is more than we expected.”