PRAIRIE GROVE, Ark. (KFSM) — This week, a group of women has been packing hundreds of backpacks full of school supplies to make sure students in Washington County get started on the right track for the new school year.
The group has been at Prairie Grove Elementary School the past few nights packing 400 backpacks full of school supplies to give away this Saturday (July 27).
"Each child gets a backpack so if a family comes in with nine children, they get nine backpacks," volunteer Destiny Ray said.
Ray and the Altrusa International Club of Washington County have helped with this back to school resource fair for the past seven years. She says their mission is to take out the stress for parents and students before school starts.
"So many families have multiple children and having to spend $30, $40, $50 per child for school supplies," Ray said. "We just thought there was a need to help kind of ease that burden."
Previous club president Chelsey Baker says each backpack is full stocked with supplies.
"We’ve got 3 ruled notebooks, we’ve got loose-leaf paper, we’ve got a 1-inch binder, five folders, a ruler, markers and a pencil box that has crayons and pencils and pens and glue sticks and scissors," Baker said.
They explained that although the event is held at Prairie Grove Elementary School, it is not just for Prairie Grove students.
"Anyone who hears about our event can come from Washington County and it’s for any school-age preschool all the way up to high school," Baker said.
Along with school supplies, there will be personal care packages, snack packs, free haircuts, door prizes and free lunch for the families.
"We get so many 'thank yous' and 'are you going to be here next year' and 'thank you for the lunch and hair cut,' they’re always thankful," Ray said.
Anyone of school-age can come by and pick up a backpack full of school supplies this Saturday (July 29) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Prairie Grove Elementary.