Success Story
Getting Ready for School at Neighborhood House: The Annual School Supply Drive Helps Local Families in Need
Each September, as the air cools and the leaves change, a new year of school begins for kindergarteners through high school seniors throughout the state. This is an exciting time for most children, when they pack their crisp notebooks and sharpened pencils into clean backpacks, in eager anticipation for the year ahead. But for some parents who are struggling just to feed their families, purchasing the long list of necessary school supplies is an additional financial burden. At Neighborhood House, our goal is to alleviate some of that stress through The School Supply Drive, an annual event which enables local immigrant, refugee and low-income families to equally enjoy the start of a new school year.
The School Supply Drive at Neighborhood House aims to provide school supplies to 1,200 students in grades K-12. Last year, we exceeded our goal, providing pens and pencils, notebooks and backpacks, and other important learning tools to over 1,700 youth. Despite outstanding results, many families were added to a waiting list. Demand has more than doubled over the last five years. The current economy is a challenge for many Neighborhood House participants, parents are unemployed or underemployed, and families are fighting to scrape together enough money for school supplies. Cuts to school budgets exacerbate the problem; schools can no longer afford to purchase certain items and parents are faced with school supply lists that grow longer each year.
The School Supply Drive Committee determines what school supplies are most needed and how those supplies are best distributed to our participants based on local school supply lists. A first grader and a high school sophomore need very different items, for example, and the committee manages who should have crayons versus protractors. Approximately one-third of all donations come from Caring Tree, a partnering non-profit organization that provides school supplies to students in need throughout Minnesota, and the additional two-thirds of donations come from community and individual supporters. The number of students who are able to receive supplies from our drive directly depends on the amount we are able to raise and we hope this year we won’t have to turn anyone away, that we will have enough school supplies to support every child in need.
Every child deserves a chance to be successful in school, from the day they sit down in a kindergarten class to the day they receive a high school diploma. It starts with moments like this one, when a young boy clutching his mother’s hand, is given the opportunity to select his very first backpack, fills it with a pack of crayons and a notebook, and smiles ear to ear feeling prepared for his first day of school. For a family who cannot afford these items without support, this is a very meaningful gift.
