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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 2, 2002
BROOKSVILLE -- Several local organizations want to make going back to school something to celebrate this year.
On Saturday, the Jerome Brown Community Center in Brooksville will host the Community & Family Back to School Extravaganza, an event sponsored by Somebody Cares Hernando and Child Development Services.
Organizers say the event is intended to draw children from all over the county and from all walks of life.
"This is something for everyone," said Dennis Gomas of Somebody Cares. "The event does have an element of charity -- to meet some special needs of those who are coming who may need a lift -- but the event is certainly for the whole community."
The charity element is dubbed Operation Backpack. The group has bought 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to be given away at the event.
In addition, nine arcade games will be available, each with a supply of pencils, rulers, erasers and composition books to be given away as prizes. Special giveaways of teddy bears and children's books are planned for preschool participants, Gomas said.
"Nobody will leave empty-handed," he said. "Everyone will get something."
Besides back-to-school giveaways, the event will feature live entertainment, drawings and raffles, other activities, face painting and food.
The event represents cooperation between the faith community and government agencies, Gomas said.
"We are all committed to building a caring community," he said. "The neat thing about it is that Hernando already has compassion, and this is a way to pull things together so we can see a difference in scale."
Gomas said the event is designed to let all children know that they are special and that, as the group's name says, someone cares.
"When the smoke clears," he said, "there will be a lot of children that are going to be happy."
The Community & Family Back to School Extravaganza will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Jerome Brown Community Center, across Darby Lane from Tom Varn Park in Brooksville. The park is off W Jefferson Street (State Road 50A) on the city's west side. Admission is free. The event is sponsored by Somebody Cares Hernando and Child Development Services.