Joliet Kidz Fest provides school supplies, summer fun for families

Joliet — The Joliet City Center Partnership hosted its annual Kidz Fest on Saturday, Aug. 3, to give families a fun day out in preparation for back-to-school season.

The event, which took place this year in the Will County Office Building lot at 302 N. Chicago St. because of downtown construction, featured a variety of games and activities for families with young children.

Some of the kids’ activities included a pony wheel, a temporary roller-skating rink, carnival-style games, inflatable slides, face painting, wading pools of bubble-blowing supplies and touch-a-truck opportunities with police and fire department vehicles.

There also was a magic show and a DJ playing musical games.

While most of the event was fun and games, there were a few more serious back-to-school activities on the agenda that included getting school supplies and medical checks for the new school year.

The Will County Health Department was on-site along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to provide school physicals and vaccinations for students 7 and older.

“There has been a busy stream of people coming through all day long,” said Dr. Rob Dutton, health equity manager at the Will County Health Department. “We’ve been advertising everywhere online for about a month, and there has been a lot of interest.”

Vaccines for COVID-19, the flu, HPV, meningitis, tetanus, MMR and chickenpox were available for students going back to school, as well as information about scheduling shots for younger children. The health department’s mobile dental clinic also was on-site for families to learn more about its services and schedule appointments, as well as cool off in the intense summer heat.

“We raise funds for months, then we bulk order everything and we had a packing party after our services to fill all the backpacks and box them up to bring them here.”

—   Rev. Nate Smith, pastor The Table church.

The biggest draw of the event was the school supply giveaways, managed by the Will County Sheriff’s Office FOP, and Joliet-based The Table church.

Both groups were in their third year of giveaways, which were made possible through community donations.

“We put together 1,200 bags of school supplies for kids in pre-K through eighth grade,” said Collyn McIlvain, the event chairperson and vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 99.

“Last year, we gave away 750 bags, and the year before that we had 500. It’s been great, and we couldn’t do it without our sponsors.”

McIlvain took money donated for the drive and “went bargain shopping” to find good prices on items such as pencil cases, notebooks, folders, pencils and crayons. Each bag also contained a reusable water bottle.

She and a group of volunteers packed the bags personally in her garage and brought them to the event in a trailer she described as “a little heavy.”

Registration was not required to receive supplies from the Will County sheriff’s deputies, and bags were given away on a first-come-first-served basis.

“My main goal was to not only get supplies for kids, but to build a connection between law enforcement and the community,” McIlvain said. “That’s also why we bring the vehicles out. The kids have a lot of fun with that.”

While unregistered guests were able to get school supplies from the police, registered members of the community were able to get supplies from The Table church, which reportedly had 500 backpacks full of supplies waiting to be handed out to families who signed up earlier in the summer.

“This is our big service project for the year,” said the Rev. Nate Smith, pastor. “We raise funds for months, then we bulk order everything and we had a packing party after our services to fill all the backpacks and box them up to bring them here.”

Smith said about 45 volunteers from the church were on hand Saturday, passing out cool refreshments and school supplies to the guests, as well as “meeting with people and wishing kids well as the school year starts.”

This year marked an expansion of The Table’s giveaway as well, with 100 more bags prepared in 2024 than in 2023.

“Each year it gets bigger and bigger,” Smith said. “The more generous people are, it makes for a better outing full of people who want to help others in the community.”

Smith said the church was inspired to help with school supplies because there are many schools in the Joliet community and many families living near the poverty line.

“It really just starts to add up with inflation,” Smith said. “That’s why we get exactly what we know people will need. It makes it easier on the families and on the teachers who don’t need to worry about kids having what they need. Our goal is to get those necessities to as many people as possible.”

Between the games and the shopping assistance, families seemed to enjoy the event.

“The kids love it,” said Juana Covarruvias, who was attending with her two children who are entering second and fifth grades. “They look forward to it every year. The kids love to play the games and win all their prizes, and it’s a lot of help for us to get those supplies. Prices have gone up, and it just really helps.”

“The kids have a great time,” Jessic Guerrero agreed. “My son is special needs and he loves that he can actually play a lot of the games. It’s very friendly for students who have sensory issues.”

Guerrero’s son is entering sixth grade, while two of his three younger children are also preparing to go back to school in third grade and pre-K.

“We’re excited, but also a little sad at the same time,” Guerrero said about the approaching school year. “Our second youngest is starting now, so that’s going to be a little hard.”

Complex emotions aside, Guerrero said she is grateful for the school supply giveaways to supplement her shopping list.

“They get a lot of the things they need from this,” she said. “And they gave us a good amount of everything, so we may actually have some left over. It’s great.”