UnitedWay of Central Indiana’s Hendricks County office will kick off its annual Back Pack Attack this week to benefit school children whose families are unable to afford basic supplies.
The much needed supplies will be collected at various locations for distribution at all 20 Hendricks County elementary schools. The Hendricks County Flyer is supplying collections boxes for this year’s Back Pack Attack drive.
”This is our seventh year for Back Pack Attack,”Susie Friend, Hendricks County area director for United Way of Central Indiana, said in a press release. “We have the opportunity to help students who might not otherwisehave access to these supplies.”
Back Pack Attack was designed to equip students from low-income families with school supplies so that children enter the school year ready to learn. Last year, the county program collected more than 10,000 supplies.
”Initiatives like Back Pack Attack help United Way reach its goal of helping those who are most in need today -- our first priority,”Friend said.
In Hendricks County, according to the most recent Department of Education data posted, local schools on average have 22.3 percent who need assistance with the most basic of resources like food. This means that one out of five students needs help starting school on an equal footing.
Adult and youth volunteers assist the Hendricks County office by sorting donated school supplies. Supplies will be accepted throughout the month of July and distributed to schools before the school year begins. Businesses, groups, and individuals are encouraged to collect items for donation.
Priority donation items include crayons, scissors, glue sticks, backpacks, pocket folders, watercolors, and dry erase markers. Other items needed include pens (no gel), pencils, colored pencils, spiral notebooks, notebook paper, and rulers.
Collection sites include Duke Energy, Hendricks County Bank (all branches), Hendricks County Flyer, Hendricks Power Cooperative, Hendricks Regional Health, First Merchants Bank (all branches), Larry Nunn & Associates in Plainfield, Brownsburg Public Library, North Salem State Bank (all branches), State Bank of Lizton (all branches), United Way in Danville, Keller & Williams offices in Hendricks County, JC Penney Logistics, GEO Group, and the Hendricks County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
This year there will be a Stuff the Bus event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 23 at the Wal-mart store in Plainfield. Plainfield Schools will provide a bus to collect school supplies, and volunteers from Youth as Resources will encourage community residents to help fill the bus. Community members are asked to either drop school supplies off or purchase school supplies that day to donate to the event. All supplies donated at these events will be evenly distributed to the participating school corporations in the county.
Danville Schools will provide a bus to pick up supplies from the various collection sites throughout the county during the first week of August.
The State Bank of Lizton will hold a car wash to benefit the Backpack Attack from 5 to 8 p.m. July 13 at its main branch in Lizton. The bank’s executive management will be washing cars for a $10 donation. An extra $5 will get the vehicle vacuumed.
Monetary donations may be sent to United Way, P.O. Box 791, Danville, IN 46122.
For more information on the Back Pack Attack program, call the United Way office at 745-0310.
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