The school holidays are almost at an end — and “Brotha Richie” is hoping they will finish in style at Soul Food Promotion’s first big community event.

The radio personality, real name Lynwood Richardson, says the Back 2 School Community Jam on Saturday comes from his desire to give back to the community.

“I was planning on doing something to give back, do some community outreach,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“I met with Kenneth Richardson and he was looking to do something for the community so we decided to collaborate. Both of us have had our own challenges in the past and we wanted to give back.

“We thought doing a back to school event would be good for the children and families, give them a good time before school goes back in. I’ve been a part of these sorts of events before through the Midland Heights Seventh-day Church and their annual Heroes Day event, but this is the first time that I have done one through my own production company, Soul Food Promotions.”

Mr Richardson said that so far the response from the community has been very good, and that he is expecting a big turnout.

“We’re expecting a couple of hundred people coming,” he said. “There’s been a lot of Facebooking and social promotion. We’ve also been on the radio, so we’re expecting the community to really come out.”

The event, scheduled to take place on Saturday between 2pm and 7pm at the Parsons Road Park and Playground, will feature games, entertainment and free food provided by Fish ‘n’ Tings and Jamaican Grill.

Organisers will be giving away school supplies for needy children including gym bags and water bottles from Clarien Bank and CableVision and gift certificates from stores including Shannons Men’s Clothing, Mystique’s Unique and Hose’s Fashions.

“There have been a number of barbers that have volunteered to offer free basic haircuts for students in need of a clean-up for the first day of school,” Mr Richardson said.

“The Sunshine Company have shown their support by donating $50 gift certificates to participating barbers, to purchase barber supplies as a thank you for playing their part in giving back to the community.”

Anyone interested in assisting with the event is invited to contact Mr Richardson at brotharichie@gmail.com.