Free backpack giveaway helps Independence families prepare for school

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Updated: 9:55 PM CDT Aug 15, 2026

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Alan Shope

KMBC 9 News Reporter

Families gathered at Independence Center on Saturday for a free back-to-school event aimed at helping students begin the new academic year with the supplies they need.

Let’s Go BBQ distributed 250 backpacks filled with school supplies as families across the Kansas City metro prepared for the return to class. Many Kansas school districts have already started the school year, with Missouri students set to follow soon.

“School supplies are on the rise, so having something like this helps,” one attendee said.

Organizers said the giveaway was intended to ease costs for families while also reducing the burden on teachers who sometimes purchase classroom supplies with their own money.

“A lot of the kids in this area cannot afford school supplies, and the teachers have enough on their plates without having to give them everything,” Let’s Go BBQ manager Sarah Sands said. “We want to give back, and we want to make sure they have what they need to start the first day of school.”

The backpacks contained a variety of classroom essentials. A long line at the event demonstrated the level of need among local families.

“Parents need a lot of help,” said Holly Solomon with Let’s Go BBQ. “Anybody can do it. It could be just a simple gesture, like giving kids backpacks.”

Sands said the event was also personal for the people who organized it.

“All of us here were once students ourselves, and a lot of us here are also parents,” Sands said. “It means so much to us that somebody cares enough to give us what we need for the kids.”

Saturday’s event also included games and free food.