WEST POINT — Refuge Point Church will be hosting its eighth annual back to school book bag giveaway at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug.5. It will be taking place at John Hoggs Park off East 10th Street in West Point.

“Anyone who can come is invited,” said Matthew Thrower, Refuge Point pastor. “We will have inflatables for the kids and free food. We have 175 book bags to give away. They will be filled with school supplies.”

In recent years, Refuge Point Church has hosted book bag giveaways at several different sites. One year, the event took place on the playground across from W.O. Lance Elementary School and another year it was on one of the parking lots across from the Lanett Mill/Lanett Bleachery & Dye Works site.

“Hoggs Park is an ideal location for this,” said Rev. Thrower. “In some of our past giveaways it was in the middle of the day under the hot sun. It’s better to hold it later in the afternoon. What’s really nice about Hoggs Park is that there’s a pavilion in a shady spot.”

There’s also a popular splash pad.

“We like having a block party feel to it,” Thrower said of the giveaway. “We will be having some games for the kids. We’re hoping that the weather will be good.”

Thrower said he liked it that more and more book bag giveaways are taking place in the local area.

“The more the merrier,” he said. “It’s good to be backing our children when a new school year is about to start.”