Help kids start the school year right

Donations sought for Back2School Project

Posted

BROOKINGS – Nearly every family knows how it goes: zigzagging the aisles of the store, school list in hand, picking out the school supplies for the new school year.

But some families don’t have the disposable income to provide their children with the things they need for the new school year, and that’s where the Back2School Project steps in to help.

For 10 years, the Back2School Project has provided families in need with the school supplies their children need for the upcoming school year, and they’re preparing for their Aug. 9 event to be held at Faith Reformed Church in Brookings.

The program is open to any who need it; the only stipulation is that the child or children must be enrolled in a school within Brookings County. Otherwise, it’s open to any child from grades K-12, and registration is open until July 27.

Registration forms can be picked up at the Department of Social Services in Brookings or at the Harvest Table, held on Monday nights at First United Methodist Church in Brookings. When completed, the forms can be dropped off at the Department of Social Services.

“Our biggest need right now is supplies or monetary donations,” said Dawn Johnson, a committee member for the Back2School Project.

Some of the items they need most are loose leaf paper, spiral or composition notebooks, glue sticks, scissors, 12- or 24-pack colored pencils, 24-pack crayons, three-pronged pocket folders, plain colored pocket folders, three-ring binders, tissues, pencils and deodorant.

Donated items can be dropped off at any of the plastic storage totes placed at various businesses and churches in the community. Those places include 3M, Larson Manufacturing, Daktronics, First Bank & Trust, and Ascension Lutheran, St. Thomas More, Faith Reformed and First Lutheran Volga churches. Donations should be in before Aug. 6.

For those wishing to make monetary donations, checks can be written out to the Back2School Project and sent to Faith Reformed Church at 1330 Main Ave. S., Brookings.

And the need in Brookings is real, according to Back2School Project committee member Jan Stange. 

“Sometimes people will say that the family should have planned for it or whatever, but sometimes things happen in life. There could be a medical emergency that just wipes a family out in no time. Their income might show one level, but what they actually have for disposable funds could be a completely different thing. There are so many out there that you would have no idea the struggles that they go through.”

The program has also expanded since its early days. Back in 2009, Back2School assisted 255 children; in 2017, that increased to 577 children.

On the day of the event, Aug. 9, parents and their child or children arrive at the church and check in at the registration table. The children then enter the church and go along with a volunteer, proper school supply list in hand, who helps guide the child through the rows of supplies and get what they need.

“It gives a little empowerment to the children to be able to get their own supplies, pick them out from the variety that’s there. It helps them feel like they’re on even keel with everybody else,” Stange said. “It’s nice that they can pick out the backpack they want, if they’re into pink or purple or black or whatever.”

While that happens, the parents visit booths that give them information about different community resources the family might be able to use.

“Those booths are for things such as Harvest Table, the Backpack Program where kids get food for the weekend, Youth Mentoring, the library,” Johnson said. “A lot of these families are new to our community and aren’t aware of the services and resources out there.”

They’ve also come out with a Spanish-language brochure containing the information from those booths, and they bring a translator to the event.

When the supplies are gathered and the parents educated, they reunite at the back where they can gather some hygiene products including toothbrushes and toothpaste and maybe some gift certificates. The kids are also given vouchers for shoes, and the Lions Club conducts vision screenings. Afterward, they have a meal for the whole family outside the church.

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.