The start of the school year is almost here, and students are beginning to pack their bags with pencils, paper and glue.

Children who are a part of St. John’s Episcopal Church Summer Breakfast Bunch got a jump-start on their back-to-school prep, thanks to Raising the House. Last week, members of Raising the House — a nonprofit dedicated to the memory of Blaine House, a Towamensing teacher who died in 2013 — made their way to St. John’s in Palmerton, armed with backpacks filled with school supplies.

It was the organization’s third year partnering with the church.

Tamara House, who was married to Blaine, said Raising the House has given out around 70 backpacks to local students this year.

“We know for some students, it’s difficult to purchase back-to-school supplies. It might be a little challenging financially,” House said. “It always makes a student feel great walking in on the first day of school knowing they have brand-new school supplies.”

The bags came stocked with pencils, notebooks, glue and other school necessities.

House said when the children saw her walking in, “they knew.” Many of them have received backpacks from the organization over the years.

“They remember,” House said. “They remember Raising the House and that we help kids in Palmerton.”

The breakfast bunch started in June and ends later this month. Students in the program, all from the Palmerton area, were provided with breakfast and lunch every weekday, and given a weekend sack lunch to take home on Fridays.

“The purpose of it is to make sure these kids get fed, because the majority of them are on free and reduced breakfast and lunch,” Shari Noctor, a member of St. John’s who chairs the program, said earlier this summer.

“These kids rely on that summer breakfast and lunch. They rely on that food,” she said. “People don’t understand how severe the problem is.”