Nearly 200 backpacks were handed out for free to kids in need last week from the JJ Smith pre-K center.

It was the 17th annual backpack and school supply program, run by Y Social Impact Center Office Manager Christine Adkins. Kids from preschool through high school received backpacks and other school supplies, and the Y Center will hand out any left over from its 1356 Cole Street address while they last.

Families were so eager that half an hour before the give-away was scheduled to begin, a large group came to pick up many of the supplies. By 10:30, only half an hour in, they’d already given away around 75 percent of the supplies, Adkins said.

Volunteers helped deliver the items and interpret for families speaking a language other than English.

It was an easier time than last year’s drive, Adkins said, which was tightened up and limited by more stringent COVID-19 considerations. And for families who have trouble affording those supplies, it can mean a lot.

“It makes a huge difference. They’re very thankful,” Adkins said. “(The supplies) are so expensive these days. … Everybody’s looking forward to going back to school, and I think this kind of brightens their spirits.”

Many of the supplies were bought in bulk using grants from the Enumclaw Rotary, Mutual of Enumclaw and Fugate Ford. This lets the Y center pay around $15 for a school backpack when it can easily run for twice as much by the time it’s on the rack at Target or Walmart.JJ Smith Birth to Five lent the Y Center the space they used from which to hand the supplies.

Adkins estimated the Y Center received around $6,000 or $7,000 in donated items all together.

Y Social Impact Center, formerly known as Nexus Youth and Families, collects donated school supplies every year for kids and families who have trouble affording them. The list of supplies includes paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks and more, but they even handed out socks and other necessities. The Y Center collected donations this year from late July through Aug. 16.