BROOKINGS – The Family Back2School Project will still happen this year, but co-chairs Dawn Johnson and Jan Stange said next month’s event will be wildly different compared to years past.
This year, the giveaway is on Aug. 13 and will be done as a drive-through event where students and their families drive to Faith Reformed Church and are given their pre-packed backpack stuffed full of school supplies and other goodies.
Applications from families in need for the event are due July 31.
“The deadline is important because it will tell us how many backpacks are going to be needed to be packed,” Stange said, “and this year – because of COVID – we’re not doing any shopping with children, which is a major difference.”
Typically, the Family Back2School Project is set up inside Faith Reformed Church as a store where each student is given a designated volunteer shopper to help them pick out their needed school supplies for their grade and school. However, Johnson said that with the ongoing pandemic, organizers decided it would be best for the event to be as socially distant as possible.
That means this year they will not take any donations of school supplies. Rather organizers will accept monetary donations instead so they can bulk order however much school supplies they need.
The goal of all of this, Stange said, is to minimize contact as much as possible. Stange also said they have and are continuing to apply for grants to help purchase the school supplies.
Last year, the Back2School Project helped 525 students in the Brookings County area, Johnson said; she also said that it takes about $65 to fully supply a single student.
Each grade and school have their own unique list of supplies for their students, meaning there is a tremendous amount of organizing and ordering of supplies.
There was substantial worry, initially, about how long the COVID-19 virus remained on objects. Due to this, Stange and Johnson felt it would be best to remain cautious and employ a socially distant event with as little contact as possible.
Each student will have their own specific backpack with the required materials as well as a pamphlet, that is offered in English and Spanish, that includes important dates within the local community as well as coupons and a voucher for a free pair of shoes for the student from Shoe Sensation.
The co-chairs wish this year’s event didn’t have to be this way. They know children value the socialization aspect of the event as well as the empowerment it gives them from picking out their very own school supplies.
“Everything they’re receiving at the end will be the same,” Stange said, “but the method of getting it will be quite different.”
Johnson and Stange said during these difficult times, when millions have lost their jobs throughout the country, they hope people move beyond the stigma of asking for help. Any family in need of some assistance in getting their child/children ready for school should send in their application for the program.
“If you have a need, you apply,” said Johnson.
“We’re excited about the fact that we’re still able to provide this. We’re hopeful that those families that have had financial change will accept this as something that the community can do to help them. Because I’ve noticed … that that some of them have been pretty hesitant … it’s just the way life is right now, it’s crazy,” Stange said.
The Back2School Project is also in need. Johnson and Stange said they’re looking for 10 large tents/canopies to be donated for temporary use during the event so that the volunteers can stay out of the heat and/or rain.
The co-chairs also said they are looking for volunteers to help pack the backpacks and bring them out to the families.
To volunteer your services, contact Robin Sorbe at robinsorbe@gmail.com. If you are interested in giving a monetary donation and/or you have a large tent to lend to the event, call Dawn Johnson at 695-4679 or Jan Stange at 692-8066.
To apply to receive supplies, visit the Back2School Program Facebook page or find the form and instructions online at https://www.brookings.k12.sd.us/cms/lib/SD01816867/Centricity/Domain/27/2020application%20form%20translated.pdf.
Contact Matthew Rhodes at mrhodes@brookingsregister.com.
