Free goods, services available at Convoy of Hope on Aug. 13 in Kennewick

About $1 million in free goods and services will be given away to those in need during Convoy of Hope on Aug. 13 in Kennewick.

About 7,000 people are expected to attend the event, which starts at 10 a.m. near the bandshell in Columbia Park.

Dozens of churches, businesses and social service organizations have joined together to put it on, with help from the Convoy of Hope humanitarian organization.

Convoy is free and open to all, with no identification required.

More than 40 public service agencies and churches will be on hand to distribute free goods and provide free services, from groceries, shoes, haircuts and family portraits to health screenings and job help.

Windermere Group One and Peak Mortgage are paying for thousands of school backpacks to be given away.

A bounce house and other activities for children also are planned, and free shuttles will run from Ben Franklin Transit’s Dayton, 22nd Avenue and Knight Street transit centers.

The first local Convoy of Hope was held last year at the park, drawing about 6,500 people, with 2,500 backpacks handed out, 8,000 meals served and 35,000 pounds of groceries distributed.

The Missouri-based Convoy of Hope provides everything from disaster services, to nutrition and clean water programs, to large Convoy of Hope events like the one in Kennewick.

A volunteer rally is planned at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at Faith Assembly, 1800 N. Road 72, Pasco. It’s open to all who want to help.

For more information on Convoy of Hope in Kennewick, go to convoy.org/tricities.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Free goods, services available at Convoy of Hope on Aug. 13 in Kennewick."