{"id":269035,"date":"2026-08-20T19:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T19:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/269035\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T19:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T19:46:14","slug":"reading-back-to-school-giveaway-draws-hundreds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/269035\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading back-to-school giveaway draws hundreds"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 800 students and their families lined the 600 block of Penn Street on Wednesday for Reading\u2019s fifth annual Back-to-School Giveaway, which offered everything from backpacks and books to haircuts and vision screenings.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Mayor Eddie Moran and state Rep. Manny Guzman, the event brought together more than 45 community partners offering services and freebies to help prepare children for the start of a new school year.<\/p>\n

The giveaway included free school supplies, snacks and fresh fruit, along with other services and information about local and state resources.<\/p>\n

\"CommunityCommunity partners at a Back-to-School Giveaway, hosted by Mayor Eddie Moran and state Rep. Manny Guzman, included Esmeralda Guzman, Adele Reilly, Deborah Lloyd and Samantha Bremekamp of United Way of Berks County\u2019s Ready.Set.READ! program.
\n(MICHELLE LYNCH-READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Community partners included United Way of Berks County, which distributed new books to children and families through its Ready.Set.READ! program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a ton of brand new books to give out to the families and the kids that are coming to this amazing event,\u201d said Samantha Bremekamp, program director. \u201cWe hope that all the books go home to their new amazing families.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than two dozen local barbers and stylists also provided free haircuts and hairstyling.<\/p>\n

Among those in a barber\u2019s chair was Bryan Matos, a student at Lauer\u2019s Park Elementary School.<\/p>\n

Matos was getting a fade, a popular style with hair gradually tapered shorter along the sides and back, from Guy Gunter of Don Salon Barbershop in Reading.<\/p>\n

The in-coming fourth grader said he is looking forward to returning to school. His favorite subject is physical education, and he enjoys sports and staying active.<\/p>\n

Gunter was one of 24 barbers who volunteered their time and services, Moran said.<\/p>\n

The mayor said the number of participating organizations and services reflects how the giveaway has expanded since it began five years ago.<\/p>\n

\"ChildrenChildren from the Early Beginnings Child Care Center in Reading select backpacks at the Back-to-School Giveaway, hosted by Mayor Eddie Moran and state Rep. Manny Guzman. (MICHELLE LYNCH-READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

The event is intended to ease some of the financial burden families face as they prepare children for school, he said.<\/p>\n

With about 18,000 students in the Reading School District alone, Moran said there remains plenty of need despite the number of back-to-school giveaways held throughout the area.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s event was not limited to Reading residents and was open to families throughout Berks County, he stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA helping hand goes a long way,\u201d Moran said, noting that the cost of preparing children for a new school year can be difficult for many families.<\/p>\n

\"MoreMore than 800 school children and their families attended the fifth annual Back-to-School Giveaway, hosted by Mayor Eddie Moran and state Rep. Manny Guzman, Wednesday in the 600 block of Penn Street. (MICHELLE LYNCH-READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

The event was coordinated through a collaboration between Guzman\u2019s office and the mayor\u2019s staff, with assistance from city public works employees and downtown coordinators.<\/p>\n

For the mayor, the combination of school supplies, haircuts, screenings, books, food and community resources is what distinguishes the annual giveaway.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than just a book bag,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a community coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 800 students and their families lined the 600 block of Penn Street on Wednesday for Reading\u2019s fifth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-269035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}