With families’ ability to afford school supplies for students becoming more challenging each year, organizations like SPUR are calling upon the local community to support their efforts in ensuring children have the tools they need to learn.
Since around 2017, SPUR, a Marblehead-based volunteer organization, has provided new backpacks and school essentials to children in need throughout Lynn, Marblehead, Salem, and Swampscott. Children are selected for donations through collaboration with local school counselors, food pantry directors, social workers, and other social service providers who are familiar with the children’s and families’ needs.
This year, SPUR will be making donations to over 650 students, the highest number of requests that the organization has received since the drive began.
“Each year, it’s getting harder and harder for families to be able to provide the essential supplies needed for students, and the support of the community is imperative to make this drive happen,” Bryan Lamoreau, SPUR’s director of volunteer engagement, said. “The more people that hear about the drive, the more agencies get involved.”
Working closely with schools, SPUR has determined five different age groups for which they provide specifically-tailored supplies, in addition to backpacks. For younger age groups in kindergarten through fifth grade, SPUR equips students with supplies such as construction paper, crayons, and markers, while older groups up until Grade 12 are provided supplies such as pens, rulers, notebooks, and composition books.
The drive began on June 1, and runs until SPUR raises enough money to fulfill its requests from over 650 students. Individuals, organizations, and businesses can sponsor backpacks and school supplies, which SPUR purchases wholesale. From July 20 through Aug. 12, opportunities are available for supporters to personally fill each backpack and write personalized notes to each child. Service providers will pick up the backpacks filled with supplies and distribute them before the first day of school.
Beverly Bootstaps, another local volunteer organization, has run a similar back-to-school backpack drive for students from low-income families in Beverly, Manchester, Hamilton, Wenham, and Essex since 2001. Donations of specific supplies as well as financial contributions can be made for the drive at the organization’s website at beverlybootstraps.org/back-to-school-backpack-program.
More information on SPUR and details on how to sponsor students is available on the organization’s website at spurnorthshore.org/student-success-faq.
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202