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School Supplies for Students Drive
Each year, Martin Volunteers (formerly known as the
Volunteer & Community Resource Center) organizes the School Supplies for Students Drive to help make sure
that thousands of local children start the school year with the tools they need to succeed.
Responding to a need in the
community, the School Supplies Drive serves about one-third of the students in
Martin County – those who are eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch
program. This year, the project served 6,817 students in kindergarten through
12th grade.
For
the second straight year, Pratt
& Whitney held a pencil drive to
support the cause, delivering
32,566 pencils.
Also,
for the first time, volunteers were able to
sort the supplies in the
cafeteria at Stuart Middle
School rather than in the heat
of the Martin County
Fairgrounds. “We are deeply
grateful to principal Sigrid
George for offering us the use
of the cafeteria,” project
coordinator Anne Lalley said.
Photo gallery of the 2007 drive
>>
ITEMS REQUESTED
Pens, pencil boxes, glue, binders, two-pocket
folders, crayons, colored pencils, markers, scissors, rulers, erasers, notebook
paper, subject notebooks and composition books.
SPONSORS
All Jetting Technologies
BankAtlantic Foundation
C&W Computers
Cash Plus
Forest Hills Funeral Home
Riverside Bank
VFW Treasure Coast Men’s Auxiliary
COLLECTION SITES/DRIVES
Martin County library branches
The Stuart News
Cash Plus, Stuart
Coconut Republic Parrot Head Club
Edward Jones, Palm City
Forest Hills Funeral Home, Palm City
Frozen Ropes, Stuart
Martin County Property Appraiser's Office
Martin County Tax Collector’s Office
Mobil On The Run, Jensen Beach
Montego Cove Condominium
Palm Cove
Realtor Association of Martin County Inc.
Riverside National Bank
Salerno Diner
CONTACT INFORMATION
Anne Lalley, Project Coordinator
E-mail:
alalley@martinvolunteers.org
Phone: (772) 220-4472, ext. 232
HOW DOES IT WORK?
On an “order form” provided by Martin Volunteers, educators
at all Martin County schools indicate the number of children who are eligible
for the free and reduced-price lunch program. They also indicate on a checklist
the basic supplies that these students will need.
During July of each year, the public donates school supplies or makes monetary
donations for Martin Volunteers to purchase supplies. Volunteers collect,
purchase and sort the supplies, and then distribute them to the schools.
HOW TO HELP
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Volunteer to sort supplies during late July/early August
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Plan a drive or school supplies party at your
business, club or community – including staff, customers and/or residents. Think along the lines of the
way you would handle a toy drive at Christmas time.
-
Make a monetary contribution to the drive.
Please make checks payable to Martin Volunteers/School Supplies and mail to
PO Box 362, Stuart, FL 34995.
Or use our secure online donation tool via PayPal:
THE 2006 DRIVE
Photo
gallery
The School Supplies for Students Drive collected more than
51,000 items for 7,000 students in preschool through 12th grade. It is the
largest amount ever collected and distributed by the drive, which is in its
sixth year.
In addition to all Martin County public schools, supplies
will go to youngsters at Hope Rural School, Dunbar Center, Gertrude Walden Child
Care Center, Head Start, United for Families and Caring Children/Clothing Children (4-Cs).
"Monetary donations really helped this year in
supplementing the supplies people provided," said Anne Lalley, project
coordinator. "And we certainly could not have done it without the help of
Seacoast National Bank's sponsorship."
 HISTORY
OF THE DRIVE
The 2005 School Supplies for Students Drive made
back-to-school a little easier for 6,790 Martin County children. VCRC (now known
as Martin Volunteers) wrapped up its fifth year of leading the drive by
delivering more than 38,000 items to Martin County schools. About 2,000 additional items were delivered to the Gertrude
Walden Child Care Center, SafeSpace, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Martin County,
the STOP Camp and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Offender Training
Center.
All those items have to be collected, counted and sorted,
and that’s where volunteers come in. “Volunteers devoted 148 hours of time under
very hot conditions at the Martin County Fairgrounds so that each school would
receive the supplies they requested,” said project coordinator Anne Lalley.
The 2004 drive delivered 35,000 school supply items for
nearly 6,000 children, fulfilling all orders – and then some. A month after
school started, VCRC (now known as Martin Volunteers) re-stocked hundreds of supplies for hurricane-ravaged
Pinewood Elementary students. Also, in 2004, VCRC added United Way-affiliated
child care centers to the mix, serving the Gertrude Walden Child Care Center and
the Dunbar Center in Hobe Sound. The project engaged 33 volunteers in 350 hours
of service.
The 2003 drive collected 22,000 supplies, serving more than 4,300 students. The
numbers continue to rise as the public and educators become more aware of the
drive.
The 2002 drive delivered 14,000 supplies to more than 2,800 area students.
In 2001, the first year of the drive, 19 percent of the requests were fulfilled.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Anne Lalley, Project Coordinator
E-mail:
alalley@martinvolunteers.org
Phone: (772) 220-4472, ext. 232
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