-The ninth annual Back-to-School Fair will be August 6th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lakewood Middle School. Previous fairs were held at the Salina Bicentennial Center. “Changing locations will save us the facility expense,” said Fair coordinator Marcia Demuth. “That way we can redirect the funds to help more kids in our community.”
Area businesses have been especially involved in this year’s Fair. Philips Lighting has
donated all of the crayons, erasers, rulers, glue sticks, and scissors for the backpacks.
New this year are obstacle courses, YMCA class demonstrations, and nutrition information provided by volunteers from the YMCA. The Back-to-School Fair also features 25 exhibitors promoting student and family services, physicals, dental and mental health screenings, asthma checks, hair trims, car seat checks, and the distribution of 1,850 backpacks containing free school supplies to pre-registered Saline County K-12 students.
Registration for the free school supplies is required. Registration is Monday, August 2nd from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church located in Salina on the corner of 9th and Crawford. To qualify for the backpacks and supplies, students must live in Saline County, be enrolled in grades K-12 for the 2010-2011 school year and must be eligible for free or reduced priced lunches.
It takes more than 100 volunteers coordinated by The Volunteer Connection working nearly 700 hours to make the Fair run smoothly.
“We encourage the community to come out and be part of this fun, community event,” said Daran Neuschaffer, Back-to-School Fair committee member.
For questions about registration or participating in the Fair, contact Marcia Demuth at St. John’s Military School, 823-7231 extension 7702 or Brenda Gutierrez at the Salina Area United Way, 827-1312.
The annual event is sponsored by the Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth Initiative, American Family Insurance, companies, foundations, churches, service clubs, and individuals throughout the community. The Fair is for all Saline County families and students.