As
a mother of four (and grandmother of 6!), I know all too well how stressful this time of
year is for parents—school clothing, school supplies, sports fees, school
pictures and book orders, backpacks and shoes—the list is endless! Our family
was not low income, but it still put a huge dent in our budget and made September
a hard, hard month.
This
is why I love the Bellingham School District for their policy of providing
supplies and fees to all children. Check out their reasoning here: https://bellinghamschools.org/sites/default/files/district/documents/SchoolSupplyFlyer.pdf
Would
that more school districts would adopt this policy! At Hope House, it helps us
to focus on those children who attend County schools that don’t provide these
supplies. Trust me, I picked up their supply lists and they are incredibly
long, filled with items like Dry Erase markers, reams of computer paper, and
$100 calculators. Really? What exactly is the school providing?
If
you would like to help support those families who are hurting this time of
year, we can use the following to help our families make the first day of
school special for their children:
·
New underwear and socks for all ages.
·
New and very gently used backpacks for children and teens.
·
School supplies of all kinds.
·
If you are so inclined, new shoes of various sizes, or “hoodies”
and jackets.
Try
to think back to your first day of school each fall: new clothes, squeaky new
shoes, fresh paper and pencils, a new box of crayons. Let’s make the first of
day school special for all of our area children!
