Community need is what keeps Eddie Schwisow and the rest of the staff at The Samaritan Center going. And often, the neediest are the youngest community members, said Schwisow, the center’s communications director, which is why the center hosts its Stock Their Lockers program each year.
Stock Their Lockers works to help struggling parents provide their kids with everything they need to start back to school.
With colors and options for everyone, kids can come to The Samaritan Center and “shop” for everything from backpacks to paper.
Families can qualify for this program, which Schwisow said reached 265 kids last year, by setting up a screening visit with the center.
Since its inception, the program has grown immensely from the first 60 kids who received supplies 10 years ago, he said.
The nonprofit center is hoping to expand its reach even further by providing supplies to kids who have previously been missed.
One day, he hopes the program will reach every child in need in the area.
“We have a heart for children, and they are in these situations not by any choice of their own,” Schwisow said. “We want to support them and give them equal footing [in school].”
And, he added, seeing the children’s eyes light up as they walk into a room filled with all the things they need is unlike anything else.
“More importantly, the kids are receiving things at this event that will help to benefit them in their scholastic pursuits,” he said.
Anyone interested in donating to the Stock Their Lockers program can do so through the beginning of August. More information can be found at thesamaritancenter.net.