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United Way Member Agencies |
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| It’s almost time for “Back to School.” But when some area students return to
the classroom this fall, they won’t be equipped to complete their assignments. “Imagine being a teacher and asking your students to take a pencil and some paper out of their desk to begin a project,” said Dave Bezusko, Campaign and Public Relations Director for the United Way of Union County, “And a student raises his hand to say he doesn’t have a pencil or paper. Not because he forgot them at home, but because he never had them in the first place because Mom or Dad couldn't afford to buy them.” It happens more often than you might think at area schools. That’s why for the sixth straight year, directors of the 23 United Way Member Agencies will be collecting school supplies to distribute to all Union County elementary and intermediate schools in time for the beginning of the school year. The schools will then have extra supplies on hand for students who need them. Mary Ann Conley, Guidance Counselor in the Marysville Exempted Village School District, says before the United Way began distributing supplies to area schools, teachers would reach into their own pockets to buy needed items for their students. Now each school has a supply closet that can be accessed when a student doesn’t have what’s needed. She says distribution to students is done privately so that no one is made to feel awkward or made fun of. “It makes all the kids feel like they belong,” says Conley. United Way Agency Directors will be taking donations from 9:00 a.m. to Noon on consecutive Saturdays, August 2 and August 9, at four Marysville stores: Wal-Mart, Kroger, Big Lots, and K-Mart. Shoppers will receive a list of supplies needed for donation on their way into the store. They can purchase them that day and drop them off on their way out. Items may also be dropped off at the United Way office at 232 North Main Street Suite I in Marysville during office hours. High priority items on the list of supplies include: book bags, #2 pencils, washable and dry erase markers, pocket folders with and without prongs, blunt and pointed Fiskar scissors, and wide-lined spiral notebooks. Other items accepted include erasers, crayons, tissues, zip-lock bags, glue sticks, wide-lined notebook paper, pens, hi-liters, rulers, and index cards. Schools that will benefit from the supply drive include: Fairbanks Elementary in the Fairbanks Local School District; Plain City Elementary in the Jonathan Alder Local School District; Creekview Intermediate, East Elementary, Edgewood Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary, Navin Elementary, and Raymond Elementary in the Marysville Exempted Village School District; and Claibourne-Richwood Elementary and Leesburg-Magnetic Elementary in the North Union Local School District. For more information, please contact the United Way of Union County, at 937-644-8381. |