Back-To-School Bash Set Saturday In Clearwater With Free Supplies, Petting Zoo

CLEARWATER, FL – Several community organizations are joining forces Saturday to help students get ready to go back to school in Clearwater offering free backpacks with school supplies, health screenings, breakfast, lunch and an outdoor festival with a petting zoo, face-painting and a bounce house.

The North Greenwood 2017 Back-To-School Health and Wellness Fun Fest begins at 8 a.m. Saturday at the North Greenwood Recreation and Aquatic Center, 900 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

Each child -- kindergarten to high school -- will get a free backpack filled with school supplies, as well as the opportunity to have back-to-school youth physicals.

Those physicals will include height and weight checks, blood pressure screenings, along with vision and dental examinations. There will be physicians on site to complete the physicals and sign the necessary school forms.

Vendors will be present with information related to health, education and employment.

Local and private schools will also be on hand to tout their programs. County and state agencies also attend with valuable information available.

The event has been conducted the last 12 years, with a variety of community partners teaming up to make it a huge success and typically attracts about 800 children and 400 adults.

Sponsors include the city of Clearwater, the Clearwater Police Department, United Way Suncoast, Walmart Foundation, Morton Plant Hospital's Turley Family Center, the Willa Carson Health and Resource Center and the Clearwater Friends of the Library, according to organizers.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

The backpack and school supply distribution will take place from 8 a.m. to noon and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

But the event doesn't end then. New this year, another partner, the Elks Springtime Lodge Ladies-SBT 360, will host an outdoor children's fun festival from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with hay rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, a bounce house, live entertainment and lunch for the kids. These activities will be outside the aquatic center.

Organizers of the event could still use more volunteers, including some to provide age-appropriate entertainment for children.

For information on how to help or information on any part of the day's festivities, call Maurice Mickens at 727-643-3500 about the health and wellness event; or call Jennifer Lee at 727-560-2577 or O'Neal Larkin at 727-447-6287 about the outdoor event.

• ALSO SEE: Florida’s 2017 Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday: Dates, Details

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