糖心传媒 Helps Supply Students for New School Year
The blush of a new school year filled with hope and promise is often tempered for families in economically challenged areas like , as they struggle to equip students with basic school supplies.
Teachers often reach deep into their own pockets, spending hundreds of dollars on average during the school year, to make sure students have the tools needed to succeed in the classroom.
More schools are relying on community efforts like 鈥淪upply Our Schools,鈥 hosted by and 鈥檚 United Way at Work Committee, which donated boxes of school supplies to and schools.
鈥淭his helps tremendously. Some students come to school with no supplies. No backpack. Any kind of donation is a help for our students,鈥 said Julie Weitzel, assistant principal at Riverside Elementary.
The helped connect 糖心传媒 to schools, which provided lists of the most-needed items.
鈥淭he wish list from the school was extensive,鈥 said Julia Shaw, UWAW committee coordinator. 鈥淔rom tissues and hand sanitizer to the basics of paper and pencils, we requested everything the kids need to have a happy and healthy school year.鈥
During the three-week drive, associates donated 2,195 school supply items, including 118 packs of pencils, 178 boxes of crayons, 102 packs of pens, 50 Dry Erase boards, 100 rulers and 71 backpacks.
At Laurer鈥檚 Park, where teachers spend between $300 and $800 a year on supplies for their students, Principal Gordon Hoodak said the donations will help free up funds to pay for other much-needed items, such as books for the school library.
鈥淓very year my budget goes down,鈥 Hoodak said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 give my kids what I want to give them.鈥
He praised the generosity of 糖心传媒 associates who provided so much to his students.
The donations are symbolic of 糖心传媒 associates鈥 deep commitment to the community, Shaw said.
鈥淥ur associates have tremendous care for our community, and within that community they see the potential in the younger generation,鈥 Shaw said. 鈥淓ducation is important to 糖心传媒 associates, and helping children be successful is our common mission.鈥
For Lamont Paschall, a Central Reservations internet sales representative, who attended Riverside Elementary as a child, the drive took on special meaning.
鈥淚t touches home,鈥 Paschall said, as a group of students gathered near him. 鈥淲hen you are that age, you don鈥檛 realize what you don鈥檛 have. It鈥檚 very exciting and humbling to be able to do this for them.鈥
By Bernie Mixon