Irrespective of an individual’s age, reminiscences of the primary day of faculty linger. Everybody is aware of simply how terrible it could really feel to be the child who begins the yr with out pencils, a pocket book or backpack as a result of their dad and mom couldn’t afford these gadgets.
For twenty-four years, The Seattle Occasions and its readers have helped 1000’s of youngsters dodge that specific trauma by elevating cash for varsity provides. Each penny goes to a few organizations — Hopelink, YWCA Seattle-King-Snohomish and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness — who buy the necessities and provides them to youngsters in want.
Final yr, the three teams offered greater than 3,500 college students with new backpacks stuffed stuffed with pens, notebooks, rulers and hand sanitizer — all the things essential to get college off to a strong begin — because of the generosity of 1,130 Seattle Occasions readers, who donated a collective $210,616.
The unique thought got here from the newspaper’s former editorial author Lance Dickie, who was volunteering at a meals financial institution in 1999 when he seen what occurred when a load of donated college provides was handed out.
“The impact was electrifying,” he recalled. “The children noticed new Crayons, pens, pencils and notebooks. Mothers and dads noticed welcome assist with a back-to-school necessity.”
He prompt The Occasions spearhead a marketing campaign to do the identical for households throughout the area, an effort that has now raised properly over $1 million. In the present day, with the price of backpacks and faculty provides simply totaling greater than $100 per baby, the help is a gigantic assist to households who juggle bills simply to make hire each month.
The majority of the provides go to elementary-school youngsters. However there are a major quantity of highschool college students who want pricier gadgets like scientific calculators — important for algebra and superior math — which might run anyplace from $12 to $20, or extra. Hopelink shall be including these to their giving checklist for older youth this yr.
As each father or mother is aware of, a backpack represents greater than only a software for carrying books to and from class. To kids, there’s an entire sense of identification wrapped up in these colourful sacks.
For that purpose, all three organizations might use a few of the cash raised for present playing cards so youngsters can go to a retailer and select exactly the backpack that greatest conveys the particular person they need the world to see.
The drive is a part of The Seattle Occasions Fund for these in Want, a registered 501(c)(3) Charitable Group. The best approach to donate is online. Checks may additionally be despatched to: The Seattle Occasions Faculty-Provide Drive, P.O. Field C-11025, Seattle, WA 98111; electronic mail inquiries to ffn@seattletimes.com.
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