Student back to school supplies

The Jam Master J Youth Foundation and the Merrick Flea Market are teaming up to prepare kids for the upcoming school year.
The foundation will hold its sixth annual Back to School Event at the flea market, located at 221-02 Merrick Boulevard, on Saturday, August 20 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The affair is open to the public, and all children in attendance will receive free school supplies, including backpacks, notebooks, glue, crayons, rulers and calculators.
“The event is important because of the financial difficulties that our community has been suffering from,” said Larry Love, a partner of the Jam Master J Foundation. “We know a lot of parents are struggling, and what they need is a little help. When kids go to school they should be focused, but when you go to school and you don’t have a pen, paper or a book because your mom has to wait until next week to buy one, you are not thinking about school. We want to keep kids focused. Being prepared on the first day of school is the best step forward for the rest of the year.”
In addition to the giveaway, the attractions will include live music, face painting, clowns and a bouncy castle.
Merrick Flea Market is hosting the event as part of the Merrick Cares program, an initiative designed to offer organizations, groups, churches and non-profits a location for their fundraisers at no cost.
“Merrick Flea Market not only reached out the Jam Master J Foundation, but they reached out to the community,” Love said. “They provide deals and discounts everyday that the community needs to be made aware of. The flea market definitely benefits the community in so many different ways.”
Along with contributing the venue and making a donation to the foundation, Merrick is providing the food, advertising and promotions for the event.
“We realize that we need the community to survive, so we want to do good things to entice the community to come here and shop with us,” said Robert Basilice, the manager of Merrick Flea Market. “We want to reach out to as many groups as we can. We will host your event here and give you an opportunity to raise money for your cause. The day will be on us, and hopefully with a joint effort, we can get a really nice crowd to support the cause.”