United Way of Carlton County excited about upcoming Back to School BBQ and Backpacks

Almost 800 backpacks are stuffed full of school supplies, and ready to be handed out at the upcoming Back to School BBQ and Backpacks event.

The Cloquet hockey team and National Honor Society members helped pack up those supplies on Thursday at the Salvation Army in Cloquet.

Other volunteers helped out as well. Ada Wheale, a 9th grader, said, “It was really cool, to see our town do something like this and help out so many different people.”

Her friend, Melanie Buhs, said, “It felt really good to see kids wearing the backpacks I helped pack up last year.”

This is organized by the United Way of Carlton County. Executive Director Sarah Buhs said last year they did 500 backpacks. This year, it’s so much more.

“With the cost of everything going up, like food and gas, people are still trying to find that balance. People might be doing OK, and then have school supplies come up, and those can get expensive,” Buhs told us.

The event is Saturday, from 11am-1pm at Hilltop Park in Cloquet.  2205 14th St, Cloquet.

Families were supposed to fill out a form to get a backpack ahead of time. But there will be a few available on Saturday. You do need to be a resident of Carlton County.