LANSING - Two programs in the capital area are making an effort to ease the transition of going back to school for students and their families.

"Target School Sprees,” a national program sponsored by Target and the Salvation Army is lending low-income families a hand in purchasing pricey back-to-school items like clothes and shoes.

Lansing resident Anita Major’s three sons were selected to participate in the shopping spree. Major, a longtime health care worker, fell on hard times after she unexpectedly lost her job and still had to cover big expenses, like her car payment.

She now has a part-time job, but but she said,“During hard times, sometimes you don’t have enough money to supply for all three.”

Major’s sons, and the other children who participated in the Target shopping spree, were each given a $81 Target gift card. Last Friday, Salvation Army volunteers helped them make their purchases.

“Our staff and chaperones and volunteers, they really look forward to this. These are those kind of rubber-meets-the-road kind of hands-on experiences that we all enjoy,” said Major Alan Hellstrom, capital area coordinator for the Lansing Salvation Army.

The program lessened the back-to-school bill for 23 children ages 4-12 from 10 different families in the Lansing area.

The Ingham County Health Department is also offering families a back-to-school deal with its health fair on Aug. 20-24. The fair will offer lead, vision, hearing and dental screenings, as well as immunizations and community resources for parents.

“We have lots of different socioeconomic levels of parents that come in," said Rona Harris, community outreach specialist for the Ingham County Health Department. "The services that we’re providing are at little to no cost to parents."

Both Harris and Hellstrom say they hope their organization’s program will get students off to a good start in the fall.