Published: August 09, 2007 11:51 pm         

500 backpacks of school items will be given at a Sunday event

On Sunday, 500 backpacks full of school supplies and 200 shoe vouchers will be given away at the 10th annual Feed the Neighborhood event World Harvest Church is sponsoring.

The event — 5-8 p.m. at Government Springs Park — is designed to help families prepare for school.

“This event helps a lot of people, especially low-income families, prepare for school,” said Cindy Kingore, office manager. “The church is supportive of this project, and we have a lot of people step up to help.”

Families can receive free basic haircuts and a minor health checkups. About 70 bags of groceries and other prizes will be given away.

“We have some groceries from Feed the Children we are giving out,” Kingore said. “By participating in a game, like musical chairs, a person could win a bag of groceries.”

The event costs the church just less than $12,000, and much of the event’s funding comes from donations. Donations are responsible for many activities and prizes at the event.

Oakwood Christian Church, Grace World Outreach and Oklahoma Blood Institute are helping with the event. Many organizations gave donations.

“We are helping with the health screening and some simple haircuts and picked up donations to help with the backpacks,” said Oakwood Christian pastor Michael Frisbie. “We have helped in the past with financial donations, but we decided this year we wanted to be more hands-on.”

The church was able to give a couple thousand in donations.

Advance Food donated all the hamburger meat for the burgers that will be cooked at the event.

Oklahoma Blood Institute will have the bloodmobile set up to take donations at the event.

All donors will receive a free movie ticket to Dickinson Theater, $1 admission ticket to the Oklahoma City Zoo, a limited edition “Go Wild. Give Blood” T-shirt, Members for Life points for use at OBI’s online store and free health check readings.

“The summer months historically stress our community blood supplies, and being a part of this event will give so many people a chance to give,” said Ashley Ewbank, of Northwest Oklahoma Blood Institute.

Last year, more than 1,000 people showed up for the event. Several people stood in line for hours to get one of the backpacks.

“Families will tell us that this event comes at a time when they really need it,” Kingore said. “I have already received phone calls for the past two or three weeks from people making sure they don’t miss it, and I expect a turnout as big as ever.”

Enid Fire Department is going to have its fire safety smoke house, and Enid Police Department will have one of its K-9 units there.

“The dogs are always exciting to the kids,” Kingore said.

The day promises a day full of family activities, World Harvest pastor Brad Mendenhall said.

“We hope this event continues to get bigger,” he said. “We are giving 500 backpacks away this year, but we would like to see that be more like 1,000 in a few years.”