Back to school bash prepares kids for school

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — As kids prepare to head back to school, the community is making sure that they can do and feel their best.

A community event provided kids with free school supplies and haircuts ahead of many school districts in Hampton Roads nearing the start of the academic year.

For the third year running, the Back to School Bash came to Norfolk Sunday afternoon.

The event, held at the Southside STEM Academy, was a collaboration between two community growth organizations, We Will and Queen of Our Heart.

“I believe that some of these kids that we are serving wouldn’t have had a haircut if we didn’t put this event on,” We Will CEO Jermaine Lewis said. “It just does so much for their self-esteem and just their overall behavior when they can go to school and feel like they’re looking good and feeling fresh.”

Lewis said that in order for kids to be successful in the classroom, parents need a helping hand too.

“We try to put products and services in place so that the parents can be equipped and that the kids can be equipped to be successful this school year,” Lewis said.

Annette Parker Williams, the event’s co-organizer explained how she’s been doing events like this for a decade.

“I’ve been doing the schools supply events for 10 years,” Lewis said. “This is actually my 10-year anniversary of doing it.”

Lewis told 10 On Your Side how great it was to see the impact of the school bash.

“There is no amount of money that you can make that replaces this feeling of seeing the smiles on kids’ faces and providing them with things that money necessarily can’t buy. “

He said up next for his organization is a Christmas winter wonderland for the kids.