MT. VERNON, ILLINOIS (WISL) -- Three events are coming together at one place to provide residents some fun along with some important services.
The back-to-school block party, Market Days and Hand Up Summit are all taking place at Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday, August 14th.
Back-to-school block party:
More than a thousand backpacks with school supplies are ready to be given away from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Families just need to show up, and kids can pick out the backpack that sticks out to them the most. There's options for boys and girls of all ages.
The block party started with resident Linola Spann grilling out for local kids in her neighborhood and providing games like jump rope. Since partnering with Central Christian Church the event has grown to a community wide effort and she couldn't be happier about it.Â
A lot of them didn't believe that they could have a backpack," she explains. "So when I give them one and they walk around, and they're laughing and they're happy that makes my day. It makes the hard part worth while. "
Spann along with church members and local businesses in the area such as Walgreens and Road House Harley Davidson contribute to the cause.
Other services include free sport physicals and dental exams as well as free snow cones, hot dogs, bounce houses. To top it all off, some lucky kiddos will go home with a free bike.Â
Market Days:
Market Days takes place on the second Saturday of the month May through September.
This weekend, there are more than a hundred vendors offering antiques, collectibles, handmade items, and more.
Lana Buck, Marketing Executive for the City of Mt Vernon, says there will also be a focus on produce, "We even have golf carts to take them (produce items) to the car for you."
Free COVID vaccines will be available for anyone 12 and over (with parental consent) at the Roland W. Lewis Community building. It's for those who need their first dose of the Pfizer shot. The second dose will be made available on September 11th.
Market Days and the vaccine clinic will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hand Up Summit:
The Hand Up Summit will offer free legal advice and services for the expungement and sealing of criminal records.
Brenda Torrez, who is aBoard Member of the Drug Court Coalition of Jefferson County, says this often helps those with past criminal records get jobs and move forward.
"They've been incarcerated; They've paid the price," she says. "I think that it gives them the opportunity to have a better life after that's happened you know. People change."
The summit is being held in the back of the Roland W. Lewis Community Building from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Â
It's with the help of Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, Illinois Bar Foundation, Public Interest Law initiative, Jefferson County Circuit Clerk and Quinn Law & Mediation, LLC.
Roland W. Lewis Community building/ Veterans Memorial Park
800 South 27th Street
Mt. Vernon, Illinois
