MERIDEN - A week to go until kids across the state head back to school.
Whether it was kindergarten or 8th grade, deserving kids in Meriden are going back to school with all the essentials thanks to a little help from the fire department.
It was the 16th Annual Back To School Expo, and each kid that attended got a free backpack.
“I think this is great, they put a lot of effort into making sure the kids are prepared for school. The kids love their backpacks,” said Mark Lewis of Meriden.
This community event has been a year in the making. The fire department collecting these supplies throughout the year. On Sunday the spent the day stuffing each of these 1,000 backpacks.
“We might go through all 1,000 backpacks and that's a good day for us. We like to help out as many kids as we can,” said Ryan Gilhuly, Meriden Fire Department.
These backpacks and supplies are now one less thing both parents and kids will need to worry about.
As soon as the supplies were handed out, the planning starts for next year. You can drop off supplies of monetary donations to any of the fire stations in Meriden throughout the year.