School supply giveaway at Washington Farmers Market

WASHINGTON — The Washington Area Ministerial Association, in partnership with local Salvation Army funds, will sponsor a school supply backpack giveaway at Central Park starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, during the Washington Farmers Market.

A news release from the group, a collaborative organization of local church clergy and congregation members — said it hoped to provide for community families, making the supplies free to students in Kindergarten through fifth grade.

“Realizing that a substantial number of our school families are experiencing economic shortfall, the Ministerial Association … desires to help ease some of the financial strain for our neighbors,“ the news release said. ”We plan to have a total of 300 backpacks with supplies appropriate to each grade level, K-5, which breaks down to 50 backpacks available per grade level filled with the supplies listed by the school for that grade.“

Any leftover funds after the filling of the backpacks will be used to purchase extra supplies the teachers have requested for their classrooms, such as tissues, dry-erase markers and Ziploc bags.