GREENFIELD — Children and teens from low-income families across Franklin County will show up to school prepared this year with help from a program providing them with school supplies.
It’s Blooming Backpacks, a project of Women’s Way and the United Way of Franklin County in its 11th year of collecting and distributing backpacks loaded with school supplies. The drive includes a celebration for donors this evening in historic Old Deerfield, but the United Way will accept donations at its office on Davis Street in Greenfield through next week.
“A lot of kids are required to supply their own pencils, notebooks, erasers,” said Stephanie Gale, the director of resource development and community engagement for UW-FC. “A lot of schools don’t have the money to purchase their supplies anymore.”
Since 2005, Gale said, the program has collected 300 to 500 bags of supplies each year. It distributes them through partners like Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Many families lack the income to afford school supplies for their children, she said. Showing up for the first day of school without supplies could create tension with teachers and peers from the outset.
“It could really affect their social scene,” she said.
An online flier for the program lists school supplies with which donors could fill backpacks, split into categories for elementary school (colorful pencils, stickers, extra socks) and middle and high school (calculators, subject notebooks, safety whistle). Many donors are individuals, but Gale said workplaces sometimes contribute, with employees chipping in to fill a backpack.
Most importantly, she said, it’s a way for residents to show local youths they care about their well-being.
“It’s a wonderful way for the community to give to their friends and neighbors,” she said. “It could be anyone you know getting one of these backpacks.”