Kate Curcio, center, with the Third Street Alliance for Women & Children, helps students find the right backpack Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, during the back-to-school No Child Left Behind school-supplies giveaway at the 41 N. Third St. shelter. The event is set to return for 2022 on Sunday, Aug. 21.Saed Hindash file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com

A community-driven effort to help Easton area youth get ready to go back to school is returning to a full, in-person event for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck.

The No Child Left Behind giveaway of backpacks and school supplies, plus free haircuts, is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at Third Street Alliance for Women & Children, 41 N. Third St. in the city.

It’s open to students in the Easton Area School District, but also the nearby Wilson Area and Phillipsburg school districts, said organizer Stephen Flowers, owner of Suddenly Samantha Salon in Easton.

“It’s basically an Easton event, but we don’t turn anybody away as long as supplies last,” he said.

First, donations are needed, as well as hairdressers and barbers willing to donate their time.

Third Street Alliance posted on social media that it’s collecting donations of backpacks pre-filled with a lunch box, pencil pouch/box, three-ring binder, plastic two-pocket folders, colored pencils, markers, dry-erase markers, crayons, No. 2 pencils, pencil sharpener, pink eraser, glue sticks, spiral notebook, tissues and unscented mini hand sanitizer.

Any questions are invited to be directed to Jenna Sentz via email at jsentz@thirdstreetalliance.org.

A post shared by Third Street Alliance (@thirdstreetalliance)

After the pandemic canceled the 2020 event and forced the 2021 version to be scaled back, organizers this year arranged to have the city close off that block of North Third Street for the giveaway, and face-painting and other on-site activities are planned, including Brick Easton setting up a track where kids can build a car out of blocks and race it, according to Flowers.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.

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