Christy Bolden shepherded her four kids around the Piotrowski Park field on a toasty August afternoon. The retired nurse browsed booths offering school supplies, informational flyers and free food at a CPS “Back-to-School Bash.”

Tuesday’s event, one of four held around the city, helped Bolden defray the costs of school supplies for her children, who attend Smyth Elementary School on the Near West Side and CICS Bucktown, she said.

“Things have just skyrocketed in price: the paper, the pencils, disinfecting wipes, everything they need,” Bolden said. “I don’t want them to go to school unprepared like some of the other kids.”

Bolden and her kids are among the many Chicago families who flocked to back-to-school events in late July and early August that provided free supplies at a time when p

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