Help Fair “one place to go” for back-to-school preparations
Published 11:24 am Friday, July 24, 2026
QUINCY — When Rev. Orville Jones talks about the impact of the Back to School Help Fair on both families and volunteers, he often tells the story from several years ago about one little boy.
“This child found a wool suit coat that had an emblem on it. He wanted that coat. We gave him that coat, and in 97 or 98 degree weather, he put this coat on and he walked around the rest of the time he was there with that jacket on,” Jones said. “When you see somebody get something they want that bad, it can’t help but warm your heart.”
The fair returns Saturday, Aug. 1 to help students, and their families, prepare for the start of the 2026-27 school year. Hours are 8 to 11 a.m. at Iles Elementary School, 3111 N. 12th.
“It’s very important for the community to have one place to go to get everything that they need for going back to school – especially with the prices of everything going up,” said Quincy Public Schools Nursing Director Brandy Kirby, who serves on the fair’s organizing committee. “We’re hoping to provide the same services we have in the past.”
Churches across Quincy buy backpacks and fill them with school supplies to distribute at the fair, where students also can get school and sports physicals, immunizations, dental exams, haircuts and clothing.
“We give away clothing for kids, for parents, for siblings. We have anything from shoes to pants to shirts to dresses — all kinds of stuff kids need to have,” Jones said. “It is still a very important thing we do, a vital thing that we do.”
The fair typically serves 900 to 1,100 families.
“We put no limitations on anybody. You do not have to prove your income,” Jones said. “We just ask that you have a parent or guardian with you and come and get what you need.”
Putting the fair together each year “takes a lot of planning, a lot of resources and great volunteers,” Kirby said. “We start the month after the fair, just reviewing how that year went and what we can do to improve for next year, then we start meeting again in January to start planning for that year’s Back to School event.”
Volunteers pitch in to help with planning and to lend a hand the day of the event.
“It’s an opportunity for them to do something that is really needed, to do something that is important and to have some fun while they’re doing it,” Jones said. “What volunteers walk away with is much more than what they bring.”
