Back to school prep: School supply distribution returns with drive-thru format

With a new school year just around the corner, Bartholomew County families recently got a helping hand on shopping for supplies.

The Bartholomew County School Supply Assistance Program (BCSSAP) held its annual distribution event on Thursday afternoon, with families driving through the Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fund warehouse to receive supply-filled backpacks. More than 1,900 students registered for assistance this year, according to United Way Volunteer Action Center Director Alicia Monroe.

As of about 1 p.m., the drive was “very busy” and things were going well, said Diane Doup, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Lincoln-Central Family Neighborhood Family Center.

“We have very strong volunteer support, which is always key to a successful event, and families have been very patient moving through the process,” said Doup.

The BCSSAP provides free, basic supplies for K-12 students in Bartholomew County. The program has flexible income guidelines and is “designed for households experiencing financial need.”

In 2020, 1,776 students received supplies through the distribution event; 2021’s number was 1,709, said Monroe.

As of Thursday morning, 1,939 Bartholomew County students had registered for assistance, with Hope more than doubling its number from last year.

“We will continue to meet the needs of students who did not get registered by the deadline on a first-come first-served basis,” said Monroe.

While Doup was unable to estimate the number of backpacks handed out as of Thursday afternoon, she said that organizers were pleased with turnout and that things seemed to be going smoothly.

The BCSSAP began implementing its current drive-thru distribution format in 2020 amid the pandemic. After the 2021 distribution, participants received a survey asking if they preferred in-person pickup or drive-thru.

“An overwhelming majority said the drive-thru just worked better for them, so that’s why we decided to stay with that this year,” said Doup. “…Obviously, we will ask people, ongoing, what works best for their families, but I would anticipate that we would continue the drive-thru as long as, number one, we have the space available to do so, and number two, that’s what works best for the majority of the families picking up supplies.”

Additionally, families and volunteers indicated that a longer, one-day distribution event was preferable to two short days, so this format was also adopted for the 2022 distribution.

This year also brings with it the burden of inflation — both for families and the assistance program itself. Doup said that the committee has been “very concerned” about this issue and anticipated that their costs would rise. Fortunately, they have been able to work with vendors who understand this and have tried to help as much as possible. The program has also received grant funds that helped “tremendously,” said Doup.

“At this point, we have enough supplies to help everyone who is registered and what we anticipate in the next few days, thanks to additional donations that we received,” she said on Monday. “However, we also typically try to purchase things that are put on clearance after the season, the fall. And we are concerned whether or not we’ll have enough funds to be able to make a lot of those purchases. So that’s why, if folks are still interested in donating to the school supply effort, we can still utilize a lot of those funds.”

She added that the program is grateful to its donors and is always looking to collaborate with other donation drives in order to maximize its impact.

In addition to helping students, the organization is able to give supplies to teachers this year thanks to a donation from the Cummins Foundation, said Monroe. This allows the program to provide 750 supply-filled bags to teachers at all schools in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp.

“We’ve had a tough couple of years, so it’s just a little way to help them,” said Monroe.