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Local businesses to host backpack giveaway, summer party at Loretta Johnson Middle School

WXXI News | By Mikhaela Singleton
Published August 20, 2026 at 12:38 PM EDT
Backpacks and supplies line a table at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners
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Backpacks and supplies line a table at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners.
James Hailey
Backpacks and supplies line a table at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners.
2 of 4  — BACKPACK GIVEAWAY 2.jpg
Backpacks and supplies line a table at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners.
James Hailey
Families line up for backpacks and school supplies at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners.
3 of 4  — BACKPACK GIVEAWAY 3.jpg
Families line up for backpacks and school supplies at the annual Backpack Giveaway organized by Touch of Perfection and partners.
James Hailey
James Hailey, owner of Touch of Perfection car wash and detailing, is the founder of the annual Backpack Giveaway event on Genesee Street. Hailey says the inspiration for the charitable and family-fun community event comes from his late mother, who died of stage four lung cancer.
4 of 4  — JAMES HAILEY HEADSHOT.jpg
James Hailey, owner of Touch of Perfection car wash and detailing, is the founder of the annual Backpack Giveaway event on Genesee Street. Hailey says the inspiration for the charitable and family-fun community event comes from his late mother, who died of stage four lung cancer.
James Hailey

Genesee Street in Rochester will transform into the ultimate block party this weekend to send kids off to school both excited and well prepared.

Families can stop by to pick up one of 500 bookbags for their kids—loaded with everything they need for school—and then stay for free haircuts and nail painting, free food, plus games and 12 bounce houses all settled at the Loretta Scott Middle School baseball field.

This 6th annual Back-to-School Giveaway is organized by Touch of Perfection and supported by New Hope Ministries Church and Sweet Lady Daycare.

Touch of Perfection Owner James Hailey says this event carries the spirit of his late mother. He says she had asked him to give back to the community when she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

"Every time I get done with a back-to-school giveaway, I just tell my mom we did it," Hailey said. "I would have never did it if she didn't, you know, started with me, and because she actually wanted to start it while she . . . had three months to live."

The giveaway and neighborhood summer party will be from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. The bookbags and supplies will be curated by age range and include hygiene products to top off the school necessities.
Local News
Mikhaela Singleton
Mikhaela Singleton is Morning Edition host and a multimedia journalist for WXXI News. She has spent more than a decade in media, previously working in television as the morning show host at WROC and reporting for multiple communities around the nation.
See stories by Mikhaela Singleton