Community comes together to outfit local kids for school

Everyone remembers the thrill of that new box of crayons or the unsharpened pencils in their new pencil box on the first day of school. Many local students had school supplies like these, thanks to the generosity of a variety of Maricopans.

Supplies were distributed through the F.O.R. Maricopa food bank. Community of Hope Church, city staff, fire fighters union members, Empact and Treasured Smiles Dentistry all contributed to the back to school supply drive. The Maricopa Walmart also donated six to eight large boxes of supplies.

F.O.R., in addition to distributing the donated supplies, outfitted 100 backpacks with school supplies for needy children in Maricopa. Overall, according to F.O.R. Executive Director Wendy Webb, over 250 more children received supplies in addition to those receiving new backpacks. “This year the need was large,” said Webb. “We are so glad that we are able to continue to meet the need each year with the help of all of our community partners.”

As additional school supplies are donated to the food bank throughout the year, they will continue to be distributed.

“When folks are being asked to decide between paying for food and electric bills, it really helps to have things like a few school supplies taken off their list of worries. We are happy that the community came together yet again this year to help us make that happen for our children here in Maricopa,” Webb said.

File photo