As the inaugural community school supply drive, “Supplying Success,” drew to a close last month, lead volunteer Stacey Kelley couldn’t quite quantify the number of generous businesses who stepped up to donate.
“We were able to make some shout-outs during the drive and we will continue to (Facebook) post our thank-yous to all of the businesses that supported us. There are certainly too many to list them all here,” Kelley said in an email.
The North Royalton mom went on to say that it was difficult to put a figure on just how many school supplies were donated because items were continuing to pour in – a true indicator of the program’s total and complete success.
The program, a ministry of Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church, which Kelley expanded on after noticing that no such drive existed within the community, collected school supply donations at various sites in the city. Special collection nights were also held at York Road Recreation Fields and local teen Robert Pafford organized a “Stuff the Bus” July event supporting the cause.
“I knew from speaking with people prior to the start of the drive that there was a desire out there to help, however we were amazed at the outpouring of support and generosity of our community,” Kelley said. “The idea of a community-wide program really came to fruition from the Baseball Boosters sponsoring drop-off nights to a local Boy Scout organizing a ‘Stuff the Bus’ event to a corner lemonade stand in support of ‘Supplying Success.”
The drive may be expanding as well, Kelley said, as leaders intend to run the drive throughout the school year. In the days leading up to the start of school, volunteers were focused on registering new families and distributing collected supplies. Kelley said that once the school year is off to a good start the team will reflect on how the first year went and start planning for a bigger, better program next year.
A “Distribution Day” was held August 17 in which registered families received their school supply items. New families were being registered daily and at last count, Kelley said 16 families totaling 35 students requested assistance. Those who received supplies were extremely gracious and thankful.
“And while the families are asking for assistance, some have offered to give back by volunteering their time,” Kelley said.
She reflected on the drive’s summer success.
“This was certainly a team effort and we could not have accomplished what we did this year without the help of great team members, volunteers and supporters. I am humbled by how so many came together for one great cause and I look forward to helping more families in the future,” Kelley said.
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer