One of those youths was Avery O’Neil, a Washington Middle School student.

“I got to hang out with the head coach of the Jackals and get a haircut,” O’Neil said. “This event was fire.”

Integrity First, a local nonprofit organization, welcomed more than 55 kids to Jefferson Middle School on Saturday morning to participate in a new program, “Basketball, Bible and Haircut Give-Away,” along with the Jamestown Jackal’s Ronald “Radio” Singleton, the team’s head coach; the Jackals mascot; a DJ; and inflatable obstacle course.

The two-hour event was designed to build character, meet the needs of some community members and provide a positive, faith-based experience for program participants.

Avery O’Neil, a student at Washington Middle School, receives a free haircut from the Odessin McBride of Cut-N-Edge barber Shop.

“I have a friend in Florida who hosts an event like this,” said Kayla Crosby with the Jamestown Jackals, who also is president of Integrity First and the event organizer. “We are excited to host our first, and hopefully annual, event here at Jefferson Middle School. This event was a collaboration between Integrity First, who owns the Jamestown Jackals, Cut-N-Edge barber Shop, local churches, DJ Alex Lantigua, also known as ‘Dj LeLo,’ and others who wanted to provide a high-quality, no-cost (for children) Bible-based event for kids in our community.”

Area churches that provided monetary donations and free Bibles to give to participants included Russell United Methodist Church, Christ First United Methodist Church, Busti Church of God, Zion Covenant Church, Lakewood Baptist Church, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, The Better Place, Emmanuel Temple and Mission Covenant Church of Sugar Grove.

“Each child received a free high-quality basketball from the Legend Series,” Crosby said. “We also had a variety of Bibles to give away like the New Living Testament, New International Version, Catholic and King James versions and a few other types. … It’s great when we can come together as a community, unite and provide resources to cross racial and economic boundaries to just help one another,” Crosby said.