This article by Cayla Cade appeared on FOX61.com.
For many students and teachers, the start of school is just two weeks away. To help prepare, The Village for Families and Children is raising money to buy school supplies for kids in the Greater Hartford area.
It’s a yearly initiative where The Village usually raises about $20,000-$25,000. But as of Tuesday, they are not at that goal quite yet.
The Village CEO/President, Hector Glynn, says their goal is to give more than 1,000 backpacks to local kids, and that they have about 700 backpacks so far.
“So that when they walk into school on that first day, they’ll have one less thing to worry about,” Glynn said.
Heidi Barter was one of many volunteers from businesses like PFK O’Connor Davies and KPMG, packing bookbags and school supplies into boxes.
“The Village is a great organization,” Barter said.
They also packed hygiene and menstrual products inside totes for Dignity Grows, a nonprofit fighting to end period poverty.
“This way, the young girls don’t have to worry about, or their parents don’t have to worry about where they’re getting a product. They come in a nice little bag. It’s just good for the community,” Barter said.
As the start of the school year nears, The Village is turning to the community to get kids what they need because school supplies can be expensive.
“So families have to make choices between, ‘do I buy milk this week or do I get a backpack and send my kid off to school,’” Glynn said.
Without having these items, Glynn says it could cause back-to-school anxiety.
“Am I going to fit in? Am I ready to do what I’m supposed to do this year?” Glynn said.
With help from the community, every kid can walk into their school prepared to learn.
“They’ll know that, you know, they’re ready to study and you know the experience will be normalized,” Glynn said.
These items will be handed out to students on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. at Dunkin’ Park.
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