Kawerak Wellness hands out free school supplies at Nome Back-to-School Bash

Nome families walked out of the Nome Recreation Center gym on Aug. 26 with free backpacks, pencils, highlighters, glue sticks, folders and a choice of water bottle, plus a pizza dinner they didn't have to cook on a school night.

Kawerak Wellness provided and distributed the supplies. It hosted the Back-to-School Bash with the Kawerak Child Advocacy Center, Norton Sound Health Corporation's Behavioral Health Services and CAMP departments, and the Nome Community Center. "Promptly at 5:30pm, families lined up to receive school supplies," Kawerak Wellness said in its recap of the event.

The giveaway addresses a real household expense. A national report on Anchorage supply drives, published Aug. 1, noted that the lists of required notebooks, backpacks and specialized writing utensils "can easily cost a household over one hundred dollars per child."

Alaska News previously covered the announcement of the Aug. 26 event, which ran from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. days before classes resumed. Nome families are absorbing school-year costs in a year when the City of Nome cut its school district contribution by roughly $500,000, a reduction tied to layoffs and larger classes. Costs in the region weigh on budgets year-round. At a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature, Sen. Lyman Hoffman said that for a family of four in Anchorage, Kodiak, Bethel or Nome, "you go to the store and a gallon of milk costs $10."

Behavioral Health Services set out beads and split rings for backpack zipper fobs and ran a station for decorating berry-picking buckets ahead of blackberry season. The CAMP department offered ideas for balanced lunches and snacks. The Nome Boys and Girls Club offered memberships and shared details about its programs. Kids raced scooters and laundry baskets in a new game called Hungry Hungry Human Hippos.