Junior League of St. Pete hosts 18th Annual Back-to-School Care Fair

BY RAVEN JOY SHONEL, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — Getting ready for the upcoming school year may mean navigating a maze of medical exams, registration and back-to-school shopping. The Junior League of St. Petersburg (JLSP) wants to make that scramble less of a headache. On Sat., Aug. 2, JLSP will host their 18th annual “Back-to -School Care Fair” at the Enoch Davis Recreation Center, 1111 18th Ave. S., St. Petersburg.

The free fair—which will provide medical examinations, information on various community agencies, school registration and essential school supplies—will run from 8 a.m. to noon with event registration ending at 11 a.m.

The fair serves kindergarten through 12 grade students, whose legal guardians must be present to register for the event. Once registered, students can take advantage of the many medical benefits that will be available at the fair: immunizations physicals and sports physicals by All Children’s Hospital; dental screenings by the Pinellas County Dental Hygienist Association and vision and diabetes screenings by the St. Petersburg Lion’s Club. The medical services are for the students only; the diabetes screenings are for the entire family.

The purpose of the fair is to make preparing for the first day of school easier for parents. Toward that goal, the Pinellas County School Board will be present to register new students for school on site. The JLSP also has 1,750 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to give away this year.

Additionally, the Junior League Literacy Committee will be handing out one free book to each child in the registration line.

About 25 community agencies will be at fair to provide information about the services they provide, including All Children’s Hospital, Amerigroup, Babycycle, Clothes to Kids, Neighborhood Home Solutions, St. Petersburg Pediatrics and University Preparatory Academy.

For the children, the Care Fair will have educational activities and to stave off boredom while waiting in line, students can do various arts and crafts hosted by the Junior League Kids Create Committee.

The ladies of JLSP expect over 2,500 people to attend the event, which will take place Sat., Aug. 2 at the Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave. S., St. Petersburg. Doors will open promptly at 8 a.m.