Citizens For A Better Norwood

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Don’t miss Saturday’s big Back to School Bash!

Every school age child in Norwood is invited to attend the annual Back to School Bash this Saturday morning at Norwood Church of the Nazarene and Norwood Presbyterian Church, co-sponsors of the event. Although attending isn’t mandatory, no child should miss out on the free backpacks, free assortment of school supplies of all kinds, carnival games to win prizes, free lunch and more, all provided by the generous hearts of donors who want our children to have a blast of fun getting the supplies they need to start a successful school year.

Deb Robinson, a member of Norwood Church of the Nazarene, tells us her church started Back to School Bash about 16 years ago and that Norwood Presbyterian Church began partnering with them 4 years ago. She said, “The first year we did it we had 52 kids. Last year we had about 500. Then 50 more kids came in the weeks to follow and just picked up school supplies. There’s no income requirement. That’s part of the reason they play games like bean bag tosses, ring tosses, high striker, etc. to win prizes, plus there will be a moonwalk. The games are free, of course, and all the prizes are school supplies.”

Following last year’s event, parents who attended were surveyed, and about 25% said they wouldn't have gotten any school supplies if it wasn't for the Bash; roughly 47% said they would have only gotten minimal supplies. "Based on those results," Deb said, “we feel like we are really helping the community. In addition to the free school supplies, we have organizations from the community come and distribute information. For instance, the public library comes every year and signs kids up for library cards, HIPPY comes to enroll kids, and our after school programs usually come to pass out information.”

We hope our readers will help spread the word about this extraordinary event by emailing this blog to friends and family who may not know about it.

When: Saturday, August 2; 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Where: Church of the Nazarene, 4424 Floral Avenue and next door at Norwood Presbyterian Church, 4400 Floral Avenue
No Cost: Absolutely everything is free, including hot dogs, chips, and cookies.
More information: 531-7585

7/30/08 CLARIFICATION: Children who don’t reside in Norwood are also invited to the Bash. Norwood Naz Pastor Tim Brooks left this response for a commenter who asked about residency: “We always have leftovers...you would not be taking from anyone if you brought your kids even if you could "afford it." By all means, come on by! Also, you do not have to be from Norwood to come to this.” We just got this response to an email we sent to Deb Robinson: “The Bash is open to any child. Also, we would encourage those parents who feel like they can afford school supplies to let their kiddos come and have fun anyway. We want kids to have what they need, but we have plenty. And we really want kids to have a good time and for this to be a community event, regardless of income.”