 Today, the city of Coal Run held an event to give out free backpacks and school supplies to kids getting ready to go back to school. Coal Run Mayor Andrew Scott says this is the fifth year for the giveaway, which drew a large crowd. Andrew Scott, Coal Run Mayor, Coal Run Mayor, Coal Run When you look at what kids need these days to go to school, it's extremely expensive. Add that onto the fact that we've got a large group of our population, our children population, who are living with grandparents, relatives on fixed incomes, and the overall downturn in the economy back from the coal industry has put a strain on everybody. So what we're trying to do here is to give back to our community, our children and our future, and we want to make sure that they're very well equipped when they go back to school here in a couple weeks. More than a hundred backpacks were handed out as a steady stream of families walked through the community center. Everyone, including those who volunteered their time to help, walked away with a smile. You know, a lot of people sometimes raise their kids or, you know, their grandkids and income can be kind of hard, so this is an awesome thing. You know, I think a lot of people think, well, you know, it's free, you know, I'm too ashamed to come down here, don't be. This is what the community means, to give back. The city commissioners and I, we are so very blessed to be able to give this back to the children of our community, the children of Pye County and the children of Eastern Kentucky because the people who are here, they're not just from Colrun and they're not just from Pye County. They're from Eastern Kentucky and anything we can do to improve the education of our kids by providing them the supplies they need to succeed is a win for every one of us and we're just thankful and blessed to be able to provide this opportunity to these children.