Need help getting ready for school? Check out these free Pensacola back-to-school events:

Kamal Morgan, Pensacola News Journal
·4 min read

Schools are reopening Aug. 10, and several organizations are hosting back-to-school giveaways in Pensacola this week to prepare families for the new school year.

A quartet of community organizations have events planned where families can get everything from backpacks, to supplies, to bagged lunches and even COVID-19 vaccinations.

Cliff Curtis, president and chairman of the board of directors for the Chappie James Flight Academy, said the organization is hosting a joint open house and back-to-school event. He added the academy wanted to give families a good start back into the school year and help the community.

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"We tell the kids all the time when they come and visit us or enter programs that this is their flight academy, this is their facility. So we want to make them feel at home," Curtis said. "And one of the ways that we feel like we can make them feel at home is to support them in everything that they do. And of course, education is a big key component of their young lives right now. So we just want to do just a little something to kind of uplift them and make them feel a part of our family at Chappie James Flight Academy."

Another organization with a back-to-school giveaway is the Youth Summit Board. It is an organization that comes together to discuss and find solutions to community problems by hosting community summits featuring youth voices.

The Chappie James Flight Academy will host its annual Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway on Aug. 6. It's among several back-to-school events scheduled this week.
The Chappie James Flight Academy will host its annual Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway on Aug. 6. It's among several back-to-school events scheduled this week.

"I think it's important to be the change that you want to see," Jordyn Palmer, vice president for the Youth Summit Board, said. "I think that being able to be a youth in the community and be able to give back and help others is really important, because it's not often — or I can't recall any other events — where youth hosted and they gave back. We wanted to do this because it was important not only to us, but it's important to the community that they see."

Related: Find out when your child's school in Pensacola area has its open house

The back-to-school events this week kick off Tuesday with an event hosted by Community Health Northwest Florida and Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May.

The Chappie James Flight Academy will host its annual Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway on Aug. 6. It's among several back-to-school events scheduled this week.
The Chappie James Flight Academy will host its annual Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway on Aug. 6. It's among several back-to-school events scheduled this week.

On Saturday will be the Chappie James Flight Academy's Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway. Finally on Sunday, there are two events: the Youth Summit Board Back 2 School Youth Field Day, as well as the Truth for Youth: Back to School supply giveaway.

Also worth noting, this is the last week of the back-to-school sales tax holiday. Through Sunday, items such as clothing, footwear, school supplies, computers and accessories, puzzles and learning aids and more are tax free, up to certain dollars values. A full list of eligible items and price limits is available at floridarevenue.com/backtoschool.

The details of the four Pensacola back-to-school events are below:

This week's school supply giveaways

Back to School Backpack Giveaway

  • When: 3 to 5 p.m. Aug. 2

  • Where: Brownsville Community Center, 3200 W. De Soto St.

  • Community Health Northwest Florida and Escambia County District 3 Commissioner Lumon May are partnering for a back-to-school backpack giveaway. Backpacks and school supplies will be handed out in the drive-thru event on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. COVID-19 vaccinations will be available for individuals ages 6 months to adult.

  • For more information on vaccines, call the Community Health COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center at 850-439-3358.

Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway 

  • When: Noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 6

  • Where: Chappie James Flight Academy, 1608 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

  • The Chappie James Flight Academy will be hosting its annual Chappie 100: Back 2 School Backpack Giveaway. The organization will be handing out 100 book bags containing school supplies to children ages 5 to 18. The event will also serve as an open house for the general public to see the Chappie James Flight Academy. Food will be provided and visitors will be able to check out the facilities, learn more about available programs and ask questions.

  • For more information, go to chappiejamesflightacademy.org/2022

Truth for Youth: Back to School school supply giveaway 

  • When: 3 p.m. Aug. 7

  • Where: Belmont Arts & Cultural Center, 401 N. Reus St.

  • Truth for Youth will have its back-to-school giveaway with grab-to-go lunches available.

  • For more information, go to the Truth for Youth website.

Back 2 School Youth Field Day

  • When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 7

  • Where: Brent Baseball Field, 4711 North W St.

  • The Youth Summit Board will be holding its first Back 2 School Youth Field Day featuring activities, games and giveaways. There will be music, food vendors, face painting, a photo booth, a spa from Bougie Bratz Elite Spa, an appearance by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office Mounted Posse Unit and its horses and more.

  • For more information or to volunteer for this event, go to the organization's Facebook or call  850-375-5767.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola back-to-school giveaways: Where to find free school supplies