Volunteers kick off school year by delivering supplies

Volunteers from The Nehemiah Project hand-deliver supply-filled backpacks like the ones shown here as part of their annual back-to-school outreach initiative. (Contributed photo)
Volunteers from The Nehemiah Project hand-deliver supply-filled backpacks like the ones shown here as part of their annual back-to-school outreach initiative. (Contributed photo)

With the issue of local educational inequity still drawing controversy, a wave of supporters from The Bethlehem Center set out again this year to help ensure each child is able to succeed.

On Aug. 13, more than 200 volunteers hand-delivered backpacks filled with classroom supplies to over 6,000 students in 12 Title 1 schools, including Barger Academy, Orchard Knob Elementary and Woodmore Elementary, among others.

Schools that received supplies

Barger AcademyBess T. Shepherd ElementaryCalvin Donaldson Environmental Science AcademyClifton Hills ElementaryEast Lake ElementaryEastside ElementaryHardy ElementaryHillcrest ElementaryOrchard Knob ElementarySpring Creek ElementaryWoodmore Elementary

photo Students at Hardy Elementary receive backpacks filled with school supplies during a previous year's campaign. (Contributed photo)
photo Students at Hardy Elementary receive backpacks filled with school supplies during a previous year's campaign. (Contributed photo)

Hosted by the nonprofit learning center for its 17th year, the annual back-to-school community outreach initiative, called The Nehemiah Project, ensures that each child from kindergarten to fifth grade is given a see-through backpack filled with a basic assortment of supplies: papers, pencils, colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, a ruler, a pack of crayons and glue sticks.

"Most people don't realize that when it comes time for school to start, if you've got a single mom who has three or four kids and she has to make a choice between paying her light bill and paying for the kids to have paper and pencils to go to school, she's going to pay her light bill first," said Kelley Andrews, project coordinator for the outreach initiative. "You take things for granted, even when you're in a needy situation."

During the distribution process, every K-5 student at the selected schools receives a backpack, regardless of whether they need it or not. The practice prevents those with the most need from feeling singled out, while also keeping those with a less urgent need from feeling overlooked, Andrews explained. If a student truly has no need for additional provisions, teachers are able to collect the excess materials and add them to their classroom stash for later, she added.

While the color of the items included may vary, every pack is identical, enabling the kids to start the school year confident that they have all the tools they need to "trade their backpacks for a briefcase when they get older," said Andrews.

"They realize they have a level playing field," she said. "They can do their work as good as the person sitting next to them."

Using wholesale discounts, each backpack and its encased supplies cost about $15 to put together, said Andrews. With 6,500 packs assembled for this year's giveaway, the total cost for the service project amounted to approximately $97,500. Over the last 17 years, the organization has spent more than $1 million on supplies thanks to contributions from church sponsors, corporate sponsors and individual donors.

Andrews stressed that the work does not stop after all the bags have been handed out. Throughout the school year, the center also hosts underwear drives to collect undergarments for elementary schoolers who don't have an adequate amount to wear to class, as well as for students who might have had an accident during school hours.

"Those seem like really basic needs that most people don't realize are such a huge, critical need, but the school can't go out and purchase underwear when they need to; it's not a line item in their budget," Andrews said. "So that's something that teachers and nurses purchase for the kids, and we like to relieve that burden from them."

The Bethlehem Center also works with church partners to "adopt" a school, enabling the churches to alert the organization whenever there is a need for anything from teaching supplies to in-class volunteers. Andrews believes initiatives like these, in addition to the annual backpack project, allow the community to help teachers ensure no student is falling through the cracks.

"This shows children that regardless of where they stand in life, there's always someone there that cares about them and their education," she said. "Sometimes, it's as simple as a box of crayons to make a child want to explore the education world."

Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com.

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