The community will have a chance Friday and Saturday to help Webster Parish students prepare for school.

The annual Pack the Bus event will be from 4 until 8 p.m. Friday, and from 8 a.m. until noon, Saturday in the Walmart parking lot in which volunteers will collect school supplies.

Ursula Hullaby, with Webster Parish Schools, says donors may contribute school supplies and/or make monetary contributions at the bus.

The supplies will be given out at the 8th annual Back to School Bash set from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., Monday, Aug. 8 at the Minden Civic Center.

“We have an actual school bus parked on the sidewalk at Walmart, and we are soliciting donations, either financial or school supplies,” Hullaby said. “When people go into Walmart, we’ll give them a flyer of things that we need, and they can contribute that way. They can contribute as a sorority, fraternity, organization, etc. They can bring supplies to the bus.”

Once Pack the Bus is over, the supplies will be driven back to the Webster Parish School Board office and separated into the bags that will be given to students at the Back to School Bash.

“The purpose of the drive is to provide students with the supplies they don’t have,” she said. “Some are not in a financial position to have the necessities.”