Do you remember back-to-school shopping when you were a child? The lists, the trying on clothes, the quest for the perfect backpack. Or did you go to school when all we needed was a tablet, slate and a pencil? Either way, we never went to school empty-handed. Let’s MAD about school supplies.
This year more than 28 million children will go to school without the school supplies they need to complete the year. Read that again…
28 million children
They are not going to have the school supplies they need to finish class and homework. How much of the grade is homework where you live?
Equipment
School supplies are not always cheap.
$20-$100
Could be half a week’s wages…
Fulfilling an average school supply list costs between $20 and $100, depending on the grade level of the child. Some high school students need a bit more than that to have everything they need for advanced classes.
Families living paycheck to paycheck struggle with these costs.
Some small towns need the tax revenue from back to school shopping to balance late summer budgets, especially in non-tourism towns.
Empowerment
Children who have the supplies they need to do their work are more confident. These children are less likely to be picked on by bullies who exploit poverty vulnerability. Self-confidence produces better academic achievement.
Poverty does not discriminate based on IQ. Some of the smartest children are born to parents who cannot afford to adequately equip them to succeed in school.
Excitement
Low income children are less likely to have school supplies readily available at home. New markers, pencils and paper can get them excited to go back to school. A new backpack is as cool as having a new jacket.
Enhancement
Children who get better grades in school are more likely to be productive members of society, contribute more to their communities and raise children who are more successful. Giving the gift of a good education is a generational bequeath.
Made A Difference.
You DO Make A Difference!
Whether you choose the personal, school or community approach, you can make a difference in the success of low income students where you live. These are the children who will become the doctors, firefighters, dentists, police, nursing home staff and community leaders of tomorrow.
1. Choose a family.
You can donate school supplies to a family. If you know of one through your workplace or house of worship, donate to them. If you do not personally know of someone, call the local school nearest you, the soup kitchen, women’s shelter, foster agency or a local house of worship. They will have lists of low income and vulnerable families.
2. Choose a school.
If you are not comfortable giving directly to a family, call the local school (elementary, middle or high school). Ask them which grades have students who need school supplies. Do not be surprised when the receptionist laughs and tells you all of them.
3. Join a community effort.
The Volunteers of America run campaigns in major cities to provide school supplies to needy children. Search “VOA” plus your town or county to find the nearest drive site for the Stuff a Bus campaign.
Each year, VOA delivers school buses to big box and office supply stores for patrons to drop off purchased school supplies. The goal is to fill the bus completely full. These items are donated to the local school district for distribution throughout the school system.
Other local entities take donations of supplies all year to give aid to low income families.
4. Gather your team.
Get together with your friends, family, team mates, neighbors, fellow worshipers. Pool your money and buy in bulk. You can make your money go further.
5. Go to the school’s website.
Get a list of school supplies for the grade levels you want to help. Print them. Lists are also available at big box and office supply stores.
6. Make your own list.
If you cannot find the lists on the school district’s website, purchase from the following list:
- One gender-specific backpack
- Six pocket folders
- Three wide-ruled, single subject notebooks
- Two packs filler paper
- One two-inch three-ring binder
- One calculator
- One package (10) medium ball point pens (blue or black)
- One package (3) medium red ball point pens
- One box colored pencils
- One box #2 pencils
- One box washable markers
- One pencil sharpener
- One one-foot ruler
- One pencil box or bag
For elementary school children in kindergarten through second grade, skip #3-8 and replace with the following:
- Two boxes (24) crayons
- One box (8) large crayons
- One package construction paper
- One elementary writing tablet
- One pink eraser
- One package (3+) glue sticks
- One pair safety scissors
Pack the backpack with the supplies.
7. Happily deliver.
Take your supplies to the bus, where available, and gladly hand it over to the volunteers. Some stores will have a bin inside the door to drop supplies to be transferred to the buses when they are scheduled to arrive.
Take your supplies directly to the school. Many are open now with a skeleton crew readying the halls for the children. They will be overjoyed to see you come bearing gifts.
8. Just send money.
School districts across America are taking donations earmarked for school supplies. If you know a teacher, administrator or aide, ask about the donation program for your district. With their tax advantage and discount, they can buy bulk supplies for less cost than individuals.
Mark your check memo line with student school supplies. Specify “student” if you do not want to provide office supplies for teachers and staff, but want to support children in need.
9. Volunteer.
If you cannot afford to give, share your time organizing donating materials, delivering them to schools or organizing a drive for others to give.
Why now?
School begins in most of the southern half of the United States in mid-August. The rest of the country begins immediately after Labor Day (first week of September). School supplies gathered now can be delivered to the schools to cut down the total number of supplies parents will need to buy for the children in the entire school.
Because each year, Americans donate school supplies, big box stores currently have school supplies for sale at the back to school prices not historically set until August. This means more for your dollar…now.
You DO Make A Difference!
By donating school supplies you are taking a burden off of a low income family, providing a positive back to school experience for a child and making a positive impact on your community now and in the future. You are leveling the playing field for a child.
~~~~~~~~~~
Have you ever donated to a back to school campaign? Would you take the burden of back to school shopping away from a family in need? Will you MAD for a child by donating school supplies?
Author’s Note: I have participated in back to school drives since high school. Rode the buckboard right to the school house with the fixin’s. In 2002, a store in which I worked managed to fill three school buses with supplies. We had to take things out to get a driver IN to drive it away.
One year, I could only afford two backpacks. The principal of the school called a brother and sister into the office. Both were terrified they were in trouble the first day of school. I do not care how strong you are. Seeing a child cry when you hand them a backpack filled with new things will melt you. To date, the thank you note I received is one of my favorites.
Bearman
/ July 12, 2012Kids still go to school with a tablet…just a different kind.
What’s a slate??? Isn’t that what they used to start fires in the early 20th century?? haha
Bearman recently posted..Editorial Cartoon: Mitt Romney Paternity Test on the Maury Show
Red
/ July 12, 2012I thought it was really quite poignant when we were teaching the youngest of the autistic children to write, they had to have a slate for school. (There were ones in the classroom as well.) Goes to show all the fancy techno gadgets still fall second to the tried and true.
Valentine Logar
/ July 12, 2012Isn’t this the truth!
I have contributed to school drives for years. I love the ideas above. Perhaps this year I will build a few backpacks along with giving money.
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Red
/ July 12, 2012It really is fun.
Laurie
/ July 12, 2012The school bus is at the local mall each year to fill. My child’s list includes baby wipes, Clorox wipes, paper towels, hand sanitizer and Ziploc bags. Some of the schools lists include trash bags. I’m hoping the hand sanitizer isn’t because they don’t have soap in the bathrooms. I firmly believe if the budgets didn’t keep getting cut for the schools, some of the cleaning supplies wouldn’t be on the list. I also believe if the idiot school board hadn’t passed a uniform requirement to “make it easier on parents” more parents could afford more than the 50cent bottle of glue that’s on the list, if they can afford that after they buy a single uniform. Which by the way don’t actually go on sale, they only go tax free during the tax free holiday for back to school shopping. While not paying an additional 9% (my local city, county and state rate total) $100 to buy enough uniforms for a week with the pants, shirts and jumpers being around $11 each is offensive all because they wanted to stop low income children from being picked on. My kid’s are low income kids at the moment, it’s easier to buy them nice clothes cheaply (sales, thrift stores (takes a few hours but it’s fun) and online than it is to hunt down uniforms for a child that was too small to wear them when she started. The city schools require even preschoolers were them. There are multiples of everything on the list, and why am I sharpening two boxes of pencils to send with an autistic five year old? I miss PHP where they used grants to provide everything the children needed, no supplies needed. You only needed to send your child in full uniform with a backpack and a change of clothes.
Red
/ July 12, 2012We are not going to talk about uniforms because I have seen the huge difference uniforms make in schools, but I will give you some ideas on how to afford them.
As to the multiples, my advice is to not buy them. Only buy one and when the child needs another one, have the teacher send a note. Every year, I see teachers bringing home leftover wipes and kleenexes and such. The teachers will admit they ask for more than one to cover the children whose parents do not send anything. As to sharpening the pencils, again, skip that.
My big children all went to schools which did not put parents through this malarkey. We sent a supply check at the beginning of the year and the school purchased all the supplies in bulk. There was always more than enough, even with the parents who could not afford to send the money.
Laurie
/ July 12, 2012I can definitely not buy multiples, the amounts are ridiculous. The school has a wish list with some of the supplies duplicated on the kids supply lists listed as needs of the school too. They included office supplies (copy paper, ink cartridges), cleaning supplies and donations for science projects and incentives for honor roll students., etc……(OK so incentives for the students is a good idea.) What I don’t understand is why the request for volunteers to read to the children is toward the bottom of the list. All through PHP’s handbook there were requests and a list of things that parents could do that only took time to help the kids learn.
(While they ask for extra uniforms (most of the schools ask for donations to help) they fail to list the colors……yes, I have a pet peeve about those.) OK we’re not talking about that, moving on.
Anyway while the wishlist for the school is supplies teachers need, I can’t help but wonder if taking the classroom supply list and asking each parent to buy one or two specific things wouldn’t actually allow all the children to have supplies. Think about a second. Glue 50 cents a bottle, 30 students (average or used to be) = $15. a box of 12 count pencils is $1 roughly, 3 boxes (one pencil a student and they learn to keep up with their stuff) = $3, etc. At the open house get the parents together to estimate the number of supplies per student and split the list…….everyone buys something, (preferably during the tax free weekend) all the kids have supplies and no one has to take out a loan to buy supplies………..OK maybe it only works in theory……
Red
/ July 12, 2012I flatly refused the cleaning supplies and the office supplies. I also refused the baby wipes thing. I saw the aides using baby wipes to clean their own hands (instead of using the sink in the room to wash) and using them to clean up table messes (instead of the gallons of cleaner and rolls of paper towels [supplied by parents]). I signed a paper in the office telling them not to send home any notes (Xerox sheets for all students) for my children. The community pool for supplies at open house is a very smart idea which I know a few schools still do. There are papers folded in a hat which parents draw and none of them are over $20.
Laurie
/ July 12, 2012Teachers and aids should be required by law to use soap and water to wash hands. My five year old is required to wash her hands they should be too. Shorty still uses baby wipes, her container will be clearly marked and have just enough to get her through the day.
I fully understand now why my stepmother used to send supplies for my little sister to her aids house so she’d have them when she needed them and just send her a note when she started to run low. (She had the same aid for 18 years, she’s like family. She also paid attention to how much she was using at a time. )
Red
/ July 12, 2012I had to write Little Bear’s name on his diapers when I found out they were pooling them. He had horrifically sensitive skin (they all did) and could only use Pamper$. The first time he came home with diaper rash and a Huggies, I blew my stack. I always sent only what they needed for MY child and not thing one more. It is why I do the backpack thing for children who cannot afford it. The schools abuse the supplies and do not need all the malarkey they expect us to cart off to them.
Androgoth
/ July 12, 2012I like the idea of giving something back in order to help out needy children and their families 🙂
A very nice posting Red 🙂
Androgoth XXx
Red
/ July 12, 2012Thank you, Andro. This is one which is really close to my heart.
Binky
/ July 12, 2012They used to give us our supplies in public school. A brand new Pink Pearl eraser, and a fat pencil and a new notebook! That was probably the best part of going back to school.
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Red
/ July 12, 2012That is just the sort of emotional response all children have to new supplies. I know too many parents who gripe to the children about the cost making the children feel guilty for needing them. Wrong on so many levels…
BuddhaKat
/ July 12, 2012Hear, Hear, Red!!!
🙂
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Red
/ July 12, 2012Good to see you tonight, Kat.;)
prenin
/ July 12, 2012We don’t do this in the UK and, truth to tell, there are many kids who need this kind of support, but parental pride is a problem – when they’re not selling or destroying everything the kid owns… 🙁
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
Red
/ July 12, 2012Then, I would do the school approach. Dropping a backpack off at the school means the school could dole out the supplies without offending the (ignorant) parents. {HUGX} Red.
Cat Forsley
/ July 13, 2012RED …… sooooooooooo important ……….. what a post honey …….lady o love ………
it’s not enough to say that children are the future …. you totally show that
the future is now
i volunteer with the choirs …. during the school year ………. but i feel that
it’s never enough – the stuff we can do for children …….
i remember how important my backpack was to me – My little pony and all that …..
but in all seriousness – the look that children have in their eyes – when they feel loved – accepted and taken care of – in school … is so beautiful – more beautiful than any anything
because they feel accepted and nurtured
because they feel comfortable and listened to .
that is what pure childhood is all about ……….
BEST POST EVER – RED …….
TRULY – Madly – deeply xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
Cat
Cat Forsley recently posted..Blissed – Cat Forsley ©
Red
/ July 13, 2012Some of us have a hard time remembering how cool it was to open a fresh box of crayons or a crisp new notebook. Taking the worries away from a child who may have to explain they could not do their homework because they did not have a notebook or pencils at home is not just rewarding, it is basic human kindness. Children deserve every opportunity to succeed. Much love, Mon Chat doux! Red. {HUGZ} xxx
Cat Forsley
/ July 13, 2012“Basic Human Kindness” ……..
there it is …….:) simple simple poignant to the point …..!
Have a beautiful Friday xoxoxoxoxoxo
Cat Forsley recently posted..Blissed – Cat Forsley ©
Barb
/ July 13, 2012We fund raise throughout the year in order to support our BackPack Buddies program. We’re fortunate social services works with the program, so we can even provide food for the kids over long weekends and break. You are so right about the joy and pride those kids have about having new stuff like the other kids.
And, yes, it takes a few years of experience to learn you don’t have to send all the stuff they put on those lists. Some of those school lists are too too much.
Barb recently posted..Why We Love Scout Finch
Red
/ July 13, 2012Here, BackPack Buddies has been keeping children from going hungry for quite some time. I know a lot of parents are not like me. I declined the food because I knew there were others who needed the help. I worked with the local food bank, and they donate a lot to BPB. SS and the disabilities board try to help with the program when they can.
I have not seen a school list which was only for one child since we moved to SC. They are asking for far too much to help balance out those who have nothing. Frankly, I have no issue helping those who need help, but despise the intelligence-insulting secondary to sending me a list to convince me my (non-writing) child needs 24 pencils and 3 boxes of crayons…did I mention he does not write…or draw? I have no doubts why I homeschool. None.
Great to see you today, Barb. xxx
Soma Mukherjee
/ July 13, 2012we always contribute in whatever way we can..but there is always a school kit we donate to school every session, we ask the school and then help the kid who need it with school uniform,school bag,books etc…
we also encourage schools to make it a policy that once the session is over students will donate all books to school so that they can be used by next class if needed..one way of saving paper too.
Thank for writing such an excellent post Red. education for all can’t be implimented if we leave this only on government, we parents have to participate in it too
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Red
/ July 13, 2012I completely agree if left to the government, it would fail entirely. However, I challenge all those who have no children (or grown children) to donate. Everyone benefits from education. Even if it is not your child, someone’s child is going to be in a position to help you in the future. Do we really want those helpers to be illiterate?