Tiffany Harmon, a 16-year-old Magic City Campus student, was at the event picking up donated school supplies for herself and four younger siblings.

Harmon said she was mostly picking up notebooks and highlighters and a backpack for herself.

“Even for first grade, they need a bunch of notebooks,” she said.

While Harmon was there she also received a free eye exam provided by the Lions Club and a free lunch from Souris Valley United Way.

This year was the first year the Salvation Army’s Back to School: Backpack and School Supplies Drive, held Friday, was conducted in a “shop yourself” style, allowing families and children to choose the supplies they need.

Breanna Epps of Minot also was enjoying the provided burgers and hotdogs with her children Keanu, 5, Athena, 3, and Rainy, 1, Poitra.

Epps came to the event to pick up a backpack and school supplies for Keanu, who will be having his first ever day of school at Sunnyside Elementary on Aug. 26. Epps was looking for anything to help get her son ready for his kindergarten year and was happy to pick up pencils, a pencil box, glue sticks and the like.

“He also got headphones too, so I don’t have to worry about that as much,” Epps said. Epps was surprised headphones were on the school supplies list from Sunnyside and was thankful she was able to obtain a pair for Keanu, free of cost.

“When I was growing up, we never needed headphones,” she said of the changing times.

Epps also planned to get Keanu a haircut at the event, but the barber was out while she and her family were there. They were provided with a coupon for a free haircut at a salon instead.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Magic City Campus student Tiffany Harmon stops to get a free hotdog while picking up school supplies Friday at the Salvation Army’s back to school event.

Epps heard about the event from social media.

“I look at those events like a hawk. I like to take my kids to these free events and I’ll recommend it to people and my friends who are struggling to get school supplies and stuff like that because it’s kind of hard in this economy,” Epps said.

For Epps and her family, the event was a chance to get out of the house and have fun before the weather gets cold while also stocking up on important school supplies.

“We wanted to do more of a shop yourself, get your own supplies, so they can get what they need,” said Lt. Julie Reed, Corps officer and pastor with Minot’s Salvation Army.

This was the first year the Salvation Army’s Back to School Backpack and School Supplies Drive was held upstairs in the building, utilizing a shop for yourself model. Previously, the hundreds of donated backpacks would have been pre-filled with school supplies by volunteers.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Backpacks were a hot and colorful commodity provided to families free of cost at the Salvation Army’s back to school event Friday.

This year, items were organized in piles children and families could choose from depending on their childrens’ wants and classroom needs.

“I think it’s nice doing the shop yourself model, I think it gives the dignity of being able to choose your own things,” Reed said.

“I saw a little girl come through earlier, and she looked at the pencil cases and she found a color she really liked and she was like, ‘I love this one!’ And it’s just been so good to see how excited the kids are to choose their own things,” Reed said about still being able to provide these families with the school shopping experience.

The only requirement for families to register and receive school supplies at the event was they must be from Ward County.

“People are going through hard times anytime, regardless, and school supplies are expensive when you have to get everything,” Reed said. “We’ve had some families come through with five children and I can’t imagine the amount that must cost for school supplies.”