Back-to-school events offer free supplies, health services for Merced County families

As students and parents prepare for the return to school next month, several school supply giveaways and health-related events across Merced County aim to provide support for families. Events feature backpack giveaways, schools supplies health screenings and access to community resources.

Kids Connect Event July 19 in Merced

The Merced County Department of Child Support Services, in partnership with First 5 Merced County, will host the sixth annual Kids Connect event and community celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, at Sheehy Elementary School, 1240 W. 6th St., Merced.

With Child Support Awareness Month next month in August, the event aims to raise awareness about the child support program and the various services available to families, according to Jeff Witthun, director of Merced/Mariposa County Regional Department of Child Support Services.

The event will feature the distribution of hundreds of backpacks and school supplies to area K-12 children. School supplies have been donated through internal staff donations, businesses such as Target who provided gift cards, some of which have been used to purchase school supplies, as well as local businesses and through grant funding, said Witthun. Available backpacks will be age appropriate and filled with essential school supplies, such as pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers and more.

About 30 partner organizations will participate in the event, including All Dads Matter, Merced County Behavioral Health, the Merced County Library, area dental practices, the Merced Fire Department and more.

“These Kids Connect annual events (are) really all about raising awareness of child support, what our services are, how they’re available and how they can help children and families especially low income children and families,” said Witthun.

This year’s theme is literacy, and the event will feature booths decorated to reflect popular children’s books.

The event will also feature activities including face painting, balloon animals, music, a cake walk and refreshments. Attendance is free and Witthun said families will receive raffle tickets upon registration, including one family raffle ticket and one adult raffle ticket. Numerous raffle prizes will be awarded during the event with some of the adult raffle prizes including San Francisco 49ers tickets and an autographed jersey. Family raffle prizes include various items such as items donated by Merced County businesses, Target and Walmart gift cards, and more.

Witthun said last year’s event in Livingston saw more than 400 children and an estimated 200-300 adults attend the event, while 2023’s event in Los Banos saw about 500 children and nearly 900 people total.

Not only does the event raise awareness for child support services, but it also serves to inform the public about services available through various partnering agencies, said Witthun.

“Everything we do is for children,” Witthun said.

Merced County has about 13,700 child support cases, Witthun said. In 2024, the department distributed approximately $29.8 million to families, and is on pace to hit $30 million this year, which would be a record.

“That’s putting that money back into the community, into the hands of people who need it most,” said Witthun.

Nationally, the child support program serves about 12.7 million children, said Witthun, including about 1.2 million in California and about one in six children in Merced County. For families below the poverty line, child support accounts for between 41%-65% of household income.

“The program–nationally–lifts 1.4 million families out of poverty every year, and reduces national child support–our child poverty rates–by seven percent,” said Witthun.

Additional events in Merced County include the Castle Family Health Centers’ Back to School Health Fair and Fun event on July 19, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 3605 Hospital Road in Atwater. The event will feature activities and games, backpack and school supplies giveaway for children as well as free health screenings. Families will also have opportunities to visit various interactive booths with information on nutrition and wellness. Vendors and organizers will also be available to provide resources and support in an effort to make sure children and families have a successful school year.

District 27 Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria invites students and parents in Merced, Los Banos, Madera and Fresno to attend a Community Resource Fair and Backpack Giveaway. The event will feature backpack giveaways, school supplies, food, a mobile health clinic as well as various other resources. Backpacks, resources and food are available on a first-come first-served basis whiles supplies last.

• Fresno: Friday, Aug. 1, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Teague Community Resource Center, 4718 N. Polk Ave. in Fresno.

• Los Banos: Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Los Banos Community Center, 645 7th Street in Los Banos.
• Madera: Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Pan American Community Center, 703, E. Sherwood Way in Madera.

• Merced: Thursday, Aug. 7, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Golden Valley High School, 2121 E. Childs Ave. in Merced.

A Back to School Wellness Fair hosted by the Merced City School District will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Rivera Elementary and Middle Schools, 945 Buena Vista Dr. in Merced. All MCSD families and enrolled students are invited to attend the event, according to the district, where they will have access to free clothing and undergarments, free shoes and free haircuts. The event will also feature an obstacle course and yoga as a way to help promote staying active. Incoming students will have an opportunity to register at the event.

Merced City School District Communication Director Dominique Zuniga said the event serves as a way to increase access to resources for Merced City School District families and students.

Merced Parks and Recreation representatives will also be at the event with information on various athletic programs and representatives from the Merced Union High School District will be available to discuss high school opportunities for families and students.

Zuniga said the district is currently obtaining donations of gently used clothing items from Merced City School District staff and employees. The district has also secured $4,000 worth of donations from the Merced City Firefighter Scholars Foundation which include new undergarments, laundry detergent and personal hygiene products. The Mercy Medical Foundation is also donating thousands of diapers, said Zuniga.

The school district is partnering with Dignity Health to offer Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis or Tdap vaccines for incoming seventh-graders during the event. Zuniga said the Dignity Health’s mobile medical center will be on site to administer the vaccines.

According to the United States Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, diphtheria and pertussis spread from person to person, while tetanus enters the body through wounds or cuts. All incoming seventh-grade students must be immunized for Tdap prior to the first day of school as required by the State of California, according to the Merced City School District. Additional enrollment information can be found at the Merced City School District website.

Families and students will also have access to resources on self-care and wellness, interactive booths and interactive activities. A barbecue will take place from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m..

“Doing things like this allows our students to feel confident to come to school everyday,” said Zuniga. “Sometimes it’s little things like having some new clothes to wear, having their vaccines so they can even enter seventh grade, it’s having some shoes, it’s having all of these things that just kind of put a smile on their face.”

Zuniga said it also helps families financially and by taking some things off of their to do lists when it comes to preparing students for the upcoming school year.

This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 7:02 AM.