Wide-eyed youngsters waited patiently in a very long line at the FairOaks Mall for the quintessential back-to-school moment — picking out a backpack.
These backpacks were brimming with needed supplies, just in time for students’ return to classes Wednesday for the fall semester.
Nearly 2,000 Bartholomew County students were signed up to receive a free backpack and school supplies Tuesday and Wednesday from the Bartholomew County School Supply Assistance Program. Their families had registered ahead of time with United Way of Bartholomew County’s 211 service.
It’s a massive organizational effort that takes an entire year to plan and execute, organizers say, all of it funded through grants, donations and the community’s generosity.
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It culminates in just a few minutes of interaction on distribution day, when the students arrive at tables of backpacks inside FairOaks Mall and make their choice.
The youngsters and their families qualify for assistance based on economic circumstances, medical or other hardship and are screened for eligibility by the United Way 211 staff. There are no specific income requirements for the program, but screening is done to make sure that each family receiving help truly needs it.
Long line
Over the years, families have learned that lining up on the first day gives youngsters the best chance of picking out the backpack of their choice, and Tuesday’s line reflected that. It extended from the middle of the mall where a former card and gift shop served as the distribution area, down to Dunham’s Sports on the east side of the mall.
The line lengthened in the first hour as families arrived for the day’s three-hour distribution. Another two-hour distribution window was scheduled for Wednesday.
“The line moves really quickly,” said Alicia Monroe, who directs 211 and was helping supervise the distribution Tuesday.
Distribution begins
Volunteer Cindy Allen-Stuckey was arranging backpacks Tuesday on her table, preparing for her first visitor.
“I love to see the kids’ faces — these little first graders. They are so excited,” she said.
Allen-Stuckey didn’t hesitate to wade into a sea of backpacks behind her table to find Ninja Turtle matching backpacks for one mom. There weren’t two, but a different superhero backpack fit the bill.
Each backpack is filled with about $40 worth of school supplies, matching the school supply lists for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp., said Diane Doup, community outreach coordinator for the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center.
Although the distribution has concluded, Doup said the program will continue to accept referrals from the 211 service and help as many children as it can with the resources available.
Committees formed from members of the organization’s community partners do the work to prepare for the distribution. Those partners include BCSC, Lincoln-Central, Columbus Sunrise Rotary, Community Center of Hope, Council for Youth Development, Cummins, Family Self Sufficiency, Su Casa, United Way 211 and Volunteer Action Center.
Beginning with fund-raising and marketing to gain donations at the beginning of the year, the committees then transition into organizational mode, matching up the materials needed for each grade level and how much is needed based on applications.
This year alone, 17,460 pencils are being given out along with more than 4,600 glue sticks, Doup said. There are also folders, paper, markers, scissors, binders and more, all either donated or purchased.
Some of the most expensive items are binders for middle school students. Glue sticks and markers that nearly every grade-level student needs add up fairly quickly, Monroe said.
Organizers say while it takes about $40 to fulfill an average school supply list at most grade levels, although cost varies depending on the grade level or special high school course requirements, Doup said.
In addition to donated items, the program accepts monetary gifts and uses them to purchase supplies in bulk, she said. It takes about $45,000 in monetary and school supply donations each year to provide the backpacks, Doup said.
By buying in large quantities, the group is able to spend about $25 to get $40 worth of supplies for each student, extending the ability to help more kids, she said.
Packaging expertise
“Something that we’re really proud of is that there is no monetary compensation going to any of the partners working on this,” Doup said. “Every dollar goes into supplies for the students.”
The group uses Cummins volunteers and their manufacturing and organizational expertise to set up a system in which donations and purchased supplies are sorted, bundled, placed in backpacks and then checked once more for quality control, so that each student has everything on his or her school supply list.
“It’s a massive packaging operation and our Cummins partners streamline it,” Doup said. “They’ve got a system — packaging different grade levels at a time — and they keep track of how quickly we pack each bag,” she said.
The bags are all moved to the mall by truck and need to be kept organized there in order for students to receive the correct supplies in their backpacks. High school backpacks are across the aisle from the kindergartners, and they can’t get mixed.
The items in the backpacks are all instruction-related, Monroe said. Items such as facial tissues or wet wipes are not distributed as they are expensive and the group wants to focus on the instructional side of the back-to-school supply list.
Inside each backpack is a checklist used to double-check that the correct number of notebooks, pencils, glue sticks and folders are in place for each student.
Since it is so carefully organized, most recipients can arrive, sign in and then receive their backpacks and supplies in about five minutes, Doup said.
Stepping up
Volunteer Gail Miller of Columbus was at the kindergarten table, saying she chose it because one of her grandchildren would be a kindergartner this fall.
Her husband Mark, who was volunteering at the middle school table, taught at Northside Middle School for 45 years, which is one of the reasons Gail said she volunteers for the backpack distribution.
“I love that they are getting so excited about this,” she said as the 5-year-olds approached the table and were asked what kind of backpack they wanted.
“Do you like princesses?” she asked one little girl, and reached under the table to reveal a Disney princess pink backpack that lit up the child’s face as she reached for it.
“I was saving those for anyone who asked for Disney princess,” Gail Miller said.
Even after the distribution, the work isn’t done for the year.
Each fall, the group does a post-distribution inventory, part of the organizational process, and documents every single folder and pencil left over so it’s clear how much needs to be purchased for next year’s distribution, Doup said.
“It really is a true example of collective impact and collaboration for the community,” she said.
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If you or your organization is interested in doing a benefit for the Bartholomew County School Supply Assistance Program, call 211, which is the Bartholomew County United Way 211 program, for information.
The school supply assistance program is always looking for donations, volunteers and support to help provide the backpacks each year.
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