Hopelink launches campaign to outfit low-income kids with tools for school
Thanks to Hopelink, more than 1,700 low-income schoolchildren in north and east King County will get the supplies they need to start school ready to learn.
REDMOND, Wash. – Hopelink, the largest social services agency serving East and North King County, is collecting school supplies to distribute to low-income schoolchildren, as part of its annual Kids Need School Supplies drive in July and August. Thanks to local donors – companies, service organizations and individuals – Hopelink will distribute backpacks and other supplies to schoolchildren who, without help, would lack the school-required tools they need to complete their schoolwork.
Given the tight financial circumstances of many families, particularly during the economic downturn, receiving these items from Hopelink will help conserve the precious cash resources families need for food and other necessities. Hopelink expects more parents than ever before to request school supplies this fall, based on the large increases in pleas for all sorts of help that Hopelink has experienced. *
Hopelink’s Kids Need School Supplies drive is collecting monetary donations as well as a wide range of school supplies. Hopelink is in particular need of three-ring binders (two-inch size), tab dividers for binders, wide-tip and narrow-tip markers, erasers, backpacks for older kids, scissors for older and younger kids (Fiskars is a reliable brand), pencil boxes and pencil pouches and rulers. The school supplies will be distributed to Hopelink client families in late August through Hopelink’s food bank locations in east and north King County.
Hopelink Center Manager Teresa Andrade is spearheading the project and said it’s impossible to overstate its importance. “We’re talking about supplying essential tools to children for whom education means everything, including a way out of poverty,” Ms. Andrade said. “The children are thrilled to receive the supplies, because it means they can better fit in with their classmates and be confident they’ll have what they need to get their work done.”
“Most of us grow up with pencils, paper, art supplies, dictionaries and such at home, so we take those things for granted, but that’s definitely not the case for the children in the families that Hopelink serves,” Ms. Andrade concluded.
As every parent knows, school supplies are expensive. As every child knows, it’s embarrassing to show up for the first day of school with the “wrong” supplies or, worse yet, no supplies at all. And as most teachers know, it’s not always easy to scrape together makeshift supplies for those students whose families just couldn’t come up with the money for binders, scissors, markers and rulers.
To make a donation of supplies or cash to be used to purchase supplies, call 425.869.6000 or go to www.hope-link.org. Donations may also be made in person at any of Hopelink’s centers in Shoreline, Bothell, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond or Carnation.
For more information, contact Teresa Andrade at 425 485-6521 or teresawa@hope-link.org, or visit www.hope-link.org.
* 25% more people came to Hopelink food banks in April 2009 than in April 2008.
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Since 1971, Hopelink has served homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities in north and east King County. Hopelink promotes self-sufficiency for all members of our community and helps people make lasting change by assisting people to meeting their needs for food, shelter, homelessness prevention, family development and stabilization, transportation and adult literacy skills. For more information on Hopelink and its services, call 425.869.6000 or visit www.hope-link.org.
Denise Stephens
Public Relations Specialist
Office: 425-869-2440; Cell: 206-605-6843
Work Hours: M-W-F, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
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