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Aug. 25 is the date for the 6th annual Community Reachout BBQ, to be held at Richard's Memorial Park.

The event is free and will offer drinks, food and gift bags to those attending from 2-9 p.m.

The Reachout Committee is a non-profit organization founded in 2001 in Mississauga to address violence and conflict in the African-Canadian community.

It's looking for sponsors both corporate and private to cover the barbecue. Donations will also be used to stockpile backpacks filled with school supplies for needy students heading back to school. The backpacks will be given out at the barbecue.

The goal this year is to provide backpacks for 200 students from kindergarten to Grade 9. The most essential backpack items are pencils, pens, notebooks, dictionaries, geometry sets, calculators and the backpacks themselves.

The Reachout Committee is also planning a writing contest that will award 10 deserving students starting their first year of high school with computers or laptops.

Students helped by the committee are among the most vulnerable in the city. Reachout offers mentorship, anger management programs and workshops to youths at risk.

Committee executive director Angela Thorpe says donations of goods can be dropped at committee headquarters, 130 Dundas St. E., Monday to Friday between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Cheques should be made payable to Reachout Committee.

For more information, call 416-571-9337 or e-mail reachout-committee@bell.net.