School supplies now in the right hands

We organized the drives. You came out, bringing supplies and donating your free time. And students across the state of Washington triumph.

Throughout the past summer, Communities In Schools hosted supply drives across our state. We filled canoes, stuffed buses, and gathered supplies so that kids could get the tools they needed to learn.

In anticipation for the upcoming school year families will have had to spend $60-100 per child to pay for necessary supplies. Within the Seattle School district, 40% of the area’s 45,000+ students live in poverty, and their families are often unable to rise up to the financial challenge presented by the high costs of needed learning tools.

Teachers will often try to cover costs of school supplies within their classrooms by opening their own wallets. Studies have found that in a nation-wide survey for the 2005-06 school year, teachers have spent of average of over $1,000.

But thanks to the passion and efforts of Washington businesses and individuals, teachers can rest assured that their students will be that much more ready to take in some knowledge. Over 75 community partners, big and small, showed their support through donations or by hosting drives. 150+ volunteers donated their free time so that the drives would run smoothly and effectively. And in the end, more than 10,000 more kids walked into their first class armed with the necessary supplies to begin the new school year.

A sincere thank you to all those who helped out this summer!