The “Supplying Success” school supply collection drive is back for its second summer and program creator Stacey Kelley is even more driven this season to help local children gain the materials they need for a successful academic year at the North Royalton City Schools.
“With everything happening in our country and in our communities, I sit and think, ‘What more can I do? How many more people can I help?’ I think about that,” said Kelley, the mother of two middle-school aged children. She created the assistance program last summer after volunteering at the local food pantry housed in Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Now its own nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, “Supplying Success” will collect school supply donations at designated drop off locations beginning July 10 and continuing through July 31. A registration link can be found on the organization’s Facebook page, facebook.com/supplyingsuccess or by visiting https://tinyurl.com/v83f7ht. Past participants will receive an email alerting them of the start of the assistance program’s second year. Last summer’s supply drive helped 50 local children get the supplies they needed.
“Our intention is to fulfill the requirements for the school supply list 100 percent, anything from the calculators to crayons,” Kelley said.
There’s a new dimension to the donation program as well: homeschooling. In March, “Supplying Success” assisted local families with school supplies needed to support at-home learning and it will continue to provide that assistance if the need arises in the months to come.
“We figure the need will be greater and we also expect that with the unknown with how school will start that supplies at home may be different,” Kelley said. “You may not necessarily have the stuff you need at home. We’re progressing right now as if the local schools will open normally but we will be flexible with any changes that come up. With schools opening, there’s also the factor that kids won’t be able to share classroom supplies, so we’re looking at how classroom supplies will change as well.”
Families are encouraged to watch the organization’s Facebook page for program news and updates. Collection sites are still being determined as many of last year’s locations – such as the North Royalton Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, Royalton Woods and the City Schools Administration Building – are closed or have limited public access.
Distribution is set for August 15.
Email supplyingsuccessnr@gmail.com or call (440) 230-6195 with questions.

By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer