Kids to get help with school clothes

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest and Mervyn’s are joining forces to offer a back-to-school shopping spree for poor children from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. Aug. 6 at NorthTown Mall.

Sixty-four Little Brothers and Little Sisters will receive gift cards valued at $100 each to use for school clothes and shoes during Mervyn’s 13th annual ChildSpree event.

The children also will receive a 10 percent discount on all purchases during the event.

Local volunteers, along with staff and volunteers of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, will help chaperone the students as they make their purchases.

Additional sponsors for this year’s event include Thrivent Financial, Ronald McDonald House of Charities, Rotary Downtown and the Howard Whitney Foundation.

Since 1992, Mervyn’s has donated $12 million and served more than 160,000 children in over 250 stores and 13 states with ChildSpree.