Thousands of Brevard County children are set to receive school supplies and the tools they need to succeed — for free.

  • Back to school event to provide 2,000 students with supplies
  • Volunteers packed boxes Monday in preparation for event
  • Free supplies include pens, pencils, notebooks

Organizers say an annual school supplies giveaway this weekend is crucial to helping fight poverty in the county. Volunteers packed dozens of boxes today, preparing for the annual back-to-school giveaway.

“Here in Brevard County, we have 37,000 students that qualify for free or reduced lunches. That’s over half of our students in public school. So we want to make sure they have the supplies they need to succeed in school,” organizer and school zone manager Elizabeth Schreiber said.

Some 2,000 students will receive a backpack full of notebooks, pencils, pens and other necessary back-to-school supplies.

Even though this is an annual event, many people don’t realize how important this event is for the community.

“You think of Brevard County as this nice, middle-class community, but just this past school year, we had 2,000 students who were registered as homeless, and we have so many students who can’t even afford lunch," Schreiber said. "That’s why we do this every year. If these families are struggling to buy food, we need to help them to get the tools they need to do well in school and break that cycle of poverty.”

The event takes place Saturday at the Clearlake Education Gym in Cocoa. They'll start handing out backpacks at 9 a.m.

“It’s just so nice to see those students who are just so excited about getting a new pencil or backpack, something we took for granted as kids,” Schreiber said.

Students who attend the giveaway will also receive a hot lunch. Attendees must to register before the giveaway Saturday.