SACO — Back to school means back-to-school shopping – new clothes, notebooks, pens and pencils, backpacks, lunch boxes and more. Altogether, it can be quite pricey.

The United Way of York County has partnered with a number of businesses and organizations to help ease that burden for families in York County with its Tools 4 Schools program.

This year, the program is distributing backpacks filled with school supplies to about 850 pre-registered students in York County who are eligible for free or reduced lunch, according to Manager of Volunteer and Youth Engagement Jason Ketterick.

The program was established about a decade ago, and each year, it grows by about 15 percent, he said.

At Seacoast Chapel in Saco, one of the distribution sites, students were given a backpack Tuesday filled with supplies based on grade level. They could also select used books from a book drive at Middle School of the Kennebunks and Tom’s of Maine toothpaste.

Fiona Robinson, manager of communications and donor development for United Way of York County, said the program helps give students the best start for the school year.

“It’s very helpful. I’m a single mom,” said Amanda Farling of Biddeford, who brought her 13-year-old son, Damion Tuttle, and 9-year-old son, Dominick Gagnon, to get outfitted with new backpacks.

Farling said officials do a good job of filling the items students need for school, and that everything will get used.

Ketterick stressed that much of the work for the annual program was done by volunteers, and that the project would not be a success without their help.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.