Supplies and donations are being accepted now through Aug. 6 at the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement Family Services Center. Volunteers will also be collecting donations at Walmart on July 28-29 and Aug. 4-5.
Requested items include mesh, clear and regular backpacks, spiral notebooks, three-ring binders, college and wide-ruled loose-leaf paper, No. 2 pencils, black or blue pens, colored pencils, Crayons, two-pocket folders, markers, scissors and glue. Monetary donations are also welcome.
“We want every child to come to school ready to learn, and that means having the tools to do that with,” said SAFE director Margaret Morton.
The supplies will be distributed Aug. 7 from 4-6 p.m. at the J. Craig Smith Community Center. There are no eligibility requirements, but Morton said the spirit of the supply drive “is for families that need the resources.”
“This effort began when Avondale closed and the Promise Committee desired to reach out to the families who were unemployed and struggling to send children to school with the supplies they needed,” Morton said. “The whole idea was to create a way they could access those families specifically, but we’ve expanded that to basically anyone who finds themselves challenged by having to provide supplies.”
Morton said they serve more than 500 children through the drive on average.
“We appreciate that our community can be counted on to answer the call to help,” she said.
Students return to school on Aug. 20.
The drive is being coordinated by Debbie Danelutt. Donations to SAFE are tax-deductible. For more information or to volunteer, call SAFE at 256-245-4343.
Contact Emily Adams at eadams@dailyhome.com.
