The United Way of Cass-Clay is packing up this year’s school supplies into backpacks to be distributed to area children eager to be ready for school.
The annual school supply drive aimed to fill 7,000 backpacks this year. President and CEO Sandi Piatz says it means the world to a child to be able to walk in on the first day of school with all the supplies they need.
"The other thing is, is that when they have those supplies, that removes a barrier from those families as well - because now they don't have to pay for those supplies and that backpack. They can move those finances into paying for school lunches, or paying for maybe medical expenses, or other expenses they might have."
Piatz says after several years of organizing the school supply drive, a volunteer who came to help stuff the backpacks revealed that today was a full-circle moment for him.
"About 14, 15 years ago, he was a kid that had came through the line and received a backpack. Now he works here in the community at Aldevron, he's married and has a young child. He volunteers for us - he's giving back to an organization and a program where he received those supplies himself. He remembers walking into the classroom and sitting in the classroom where, his teacher asked him why he didn't have all the supplies. And then the next year, he came to the backpack pickup, received all the supplies, and was able to walk into that classroom with all the supplies that he needed."
The backpack pick-up events will take place this week at the Fargodome. Families are asked to fill out a form before they take their backpacks.
