School begins this month for many students across the U.S., including the six states in which Saint Francis Ministries serves. That means back-to-school sales for clothes and supplies. Yet, despite the sales, many families find it a challenge to purchase the supplies their children need to begin the school year. What’s more, teachers often must dip into their own resources to provide materials for their students.
That’s why lots of communities conduct supply drives this time of year, to help both kids and teachers. According to the Kids in Need Foundation, “School supplies and resources matter because they represent belonging and ownership of a student’s education and a teacher’s career. They empower underestimated students to recognize that they have choices and to make choices for themselves and their futures. For teachers facing rooms full of students struggling to break the cycle of poverty, supplies level the playing field so all students are prepared to learn when the bell rings.”
Teachers and students have at least one thing in common – they both need help with school supplies, especially children in foster care. By purchasing and donating school supplies, we support our local schools and the teachers who staff them. We also help foster families provide for the needs of children in their care.
This month, we encourage you to contribute to school supply drives within your own community and to give extra consideration to foster/kinship families and the children in their home. You can help families directly by contacting your local Saint Francis Ministries office and asking if there are families in care that need help. You can find those locations here, along with other ways to support programs that serve children and families.
So, how about it? Is There Room in your budget … for an extra notebook, pen and pencil, crayons, box of tissues …?
Is There Room in Your Life to help another?
