For the fifth consecutive year, the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown is helping local children begin the school year ready to learn. The club will provide 150 Jefferson County elementary students with backpacks filled with essential school supplies as classes resume this fall.
The backpacks will be distributed to children at T.A. Lowery, North Jefferson, Ranson and Blue Ridge elementary schools, as well as the Shepherdstown Day Care Center. All four schools are Title I schools, meaning a significant percentage of their students come from low-income households. The day care center also serves families with limited financial resources.
Although families are expected to purchase the supplies their children need, the cost can be difficult for some households to manage. To ensure the backpacks reach those with the greatest need, the Rotary Club works closely with administrators at each school and the day care center. Supplies are purchased according to lists provided by the participating institutions.
Each elementary school will receive backpacks containing grade-specific supplies for at least 30 children in grades 1 through 3. Individual backpacks will include as many as 23 items.
This year’s backpacks and supplies cost a total of $5,250. Rotary Club members contributed $5,000, with an additional $250 donated by Lift Global, a secular nonprofit charitable organization founded by Shepherdstown’s Covenant Church.
The materials were purchased from BluSource, a Guthrie, Oklahoma, company specializing in wholesale school supplies. BluSource also supported the project by covering the full cost of shipping.
The Shepherdstown Community Club generously provided its building as a staging area. On Sunday, August 16, approximately 34 Rotarians, family members and community volunteers gathered there to fill the backpacks and prepare them for delivery. The accompanying photograph shows most of the volunteers inside the Community Club building.
Teams of Rotarians will begin delivering the completed backpacks to the schools and day care center after classes start on August 17.
The project is coordinated by Walt Eifert of the Rotary Club’s Community Service Committee. Kim Eifert, a retired Berkeley County teacher, leads much of the work, including coordinating with participating administrators and organizing the sorting and packing of supplies.
