Annual block party brings school supplies, free haircuts to Lancaster city students

Aug 05, 2023

Cotton candy is served during the Chunga’s 8th annual backpack giveaway on 300 block South Ann Street in Lancaster Saturday Aug. 19, 2023.

For the eighth year in a row, Belinda Rodriguez reached into her own pocket to purchase 200 backpacks full of school supplies to give away to inner city students at Saturday’s Chunga backpack giveaway on the 300 block of South Ann Street.

Rodriguez started the Lancaster city block party event as a birthday celebration for her grandmother, who has since died. Over the years, the block party evolved into an event to provide students with school supplies, free haircuts and food before they head back to school.

This year, for the first time, Rodriguez received a $500 grant from Truist Bank and a $1,000 grant from the City of Lancaster to help fund the event. In previous years she spent $2,000 to $2,500 on the event but this year, thanks to the grants, she only needed to spend between $800 and $1,000. Crispus Attucks donated new bikes, toys, books, sippy cups and diapers to give out to families at the event, too.

Rodriguez said she organizes the event completely with the help of the five barbers who offer free haircuts. The event also featured dunk tanks, cotton candy machines and snow cone machines.

Students never leave the event without backpacks, Rodriguez said. And all but one of the years she held the event, there haven’t been leftover backpacks, either. The year there were, the extras went to children in Haiti, she said.

“With the pandemic that went on and the price of everything going up - it’s really hard on people,” Rodriguez said. “This will take a load off (the families)... I mean, the smile on these kids’ faces after they get their haircuts is priceless.”

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