The New London Rotary Club is asking the public for its help during their Pack it up for Kids school supply drive. For seven years, the New London rotary has helped raise money and supplies for students in grades 4K – 8th grade for the upcoming school year.
“In the middle of August, the school district sends out post cards to the children that receive free lunches, then we set up a store at one of the grade schools, usually Parkview,” explained Rotary member Rita Thiel. “There’s a list for each grade and they take a list and pick off a table where we have all these supplies and they fill up their backpack.”
The drive began in the beginning of July, and while they have received monetary donations from a few groups, they still have a long way to go.
“It’s hard to know until you really take an inventory, but we have raised some money,” Thiel said of the drive thus far. “We got a donation from Untied Way. We got a donation from Thrivent. The Lion’s Club gave us a donation, we did a brat fry, so we probably have raised about half the money that we need, but we’re a long ways from where we need to be. Every year the needs seems to be greater.”
Thiel says before the rotary began the drive, many children would show up on the first day of school without supplies.
Most general school supplies are needed, but every year there is a shortage of three-ring binders and composition notebooks for the older grades.
Cash donations can also be made at Fox Community Credit Union and all donations will be accepted until the middle of August.