Kids, parents, and teachers take note: It’s time to make a list and check it twice.

No, we’re not talking about something for Santa. We mean that it’s time to compile the annual school supplies list. The first week in September marks the beginning of the school year for the Seattle, Highline, Lake Washington, and Northshore districts.

That means kids, parents, and teachers should check to see whether they’re stocked on these and other items in preparation for school:

• Backpacks
• Composition notebooks
• Three-ring binders
• No. 2 pencils (does any school require No. 1 pencils?)
• Glue sticks

If you need such supplies—and are concerned that local malls or department stores might be out of stock on a few—you should attend Rainer Beach Action Coalition’s annual Back2School Bash this Saturday at Be’er Sheva Park at noon.

Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition launched the Back2School Bash in 2003 in response to community demand. The organization merged with the Rainier Beach Improvement Plan in 2015 to form the Rainier Beach Action Coalition and has kept the Back2School Bash going strong.

“We did surveys of folks in Rainier Beach and learned that our young people didn’t feel connected to school, and so we started the Back2School Bash,” said Gregory Davis, Rainier Beach Action Coalition Founding member, and its managing strategist.

The Back2School Bash not only provides schoolchildren with backpacks and other much needed school supplies, but it offers everyone community resources and services. Add  food, music, and entertainment, and you’ve got a much-anticipated gathering that annually marks the unofficial end of summer.

Rainier Beach Action Coalition says that the Back2School Bash remains as it was during its launch 21 years ago: to affirm the greatness in every child and address the socioeconomic barriers they face in learning.

Davis said in a recent Hourglass United Way podcast that Rainier Beach Action Coalition board member Monika Mathews came involved with the organization as a result of attending the Back2School Bash.

“Monika says that the reason she is a board member and has committed to being a board member for life is that she was a teenage mom, new to Seattle, and the Back2School Bash was an event she just happened to attend,” said Davis. “She was able to get school supplies for her son.

“She was able to get resources because we typically have up to 40 resource tables there,” Davis added. “She said the Back2School Bash was such a pivotal resource at such a pivotal point in her life. She has remained ever committed to the organization.”

Rainier Beach Action Coalition is a member of the Black Community Building Collective, a coalition of 14 Black-led organizations brought together by United Way of King County to build relationships, share best practices, and implement strategies with United Way funding.

Located in one of Seattle’s most racially, culturally, and economically diverse neighborhoods, Rainier Beach Action Coalition also hosts Town Hall events, Corner Greeter Activations, Community Development Projects, Food Hubs, and Farm Stands to promote—as its website says— “a safe place where people thrive and a neighborhood the world calls home.” To learn more about Rainier Beach Action Coalition, click here.