Many Walker County families have been hit hard by the economic recession, leaving some parents wondering if they’ll be able to provide their children with necessary school supplies next month. LaFayette-area churches and businesses are working together with Kids 4 Christ to help those families get their kids back to school with the supplies they need to be successful students.

At the seventh-annual Back 2 School Blast community carnival parents can pick up free book bags filled with essential school supplies for their school-age kids. Families attending the Blast on August 8 can also enjoy carnival games, an inflatable slide and a free meal. The Blast is open to any family with a need, and everything is provided free of charge.

Back 2 School Blast began in 2002 as a cookout where bags of pencils were given away, but it has since grown into a community tradition attended by hundreds.

As in past years, the Blast would not be possible without strong community support. Kids 4 Christ depends on donations and volunteer time in order to fill hundreds of book bags with school supplies. Several local businesses have signed up to sponsor this year’s Blast, but more donations and volunteers are needed to reach this year’s goal of packing 350 book bags.

The most needed items are filler paper, spiral-bound notebooks, and pencils because each book bag will contain several of those items. But other school supplies are in demand as well to go in book bags and use as prizes for the event’s games. Volunteers are also needed; this year’s Back 2 School Blast will need a volunteer staff of forty people.

To make donations easier, school supply collection boxes have been set up in several lo-cations around LaFayette, including all branches of the Bank of LaFayette, Gateway Bank, LaFayette Church of God on Daugherty Street, First Baptist, First United Methodist, Cohutta Bank and Antioch Baptist in Kensington. Local residents are encouraged to purchase school supplies and drop them in one of the collection boxes or drop them off at the Kids 4 Christ building by August 1.

The 2009 Back 2 School Blast will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 8, at the Kids 4 Christ building on the corner of Withers and Cherokee in downtown LaFayette. For more informa-tion about Back 2 School Blast call Kids 4 Christ at (706) 639 3234 or see K4C Web site at www.k4c.info.