By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Students may be anxious about going back to school in the next week or two. Some parents, meanwhile, are nervous about the costs of supplying them for the school year.
Depending on the grade, the school supply list can be quite long – notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, oil pastels, markers, scissors, glue, rulers, headphones, scientific calculators – and of course, the backpack to carry it all.
Cha-ching.
Older kids don’t need the scissors or glue, but they’ve got school expenses of their own like flash-drives, pay-to-play costs for extra-curriculars, band uniform fees, class photos and other niceties.
Cha-ching.
And of course, there are back to school clothes and footwear.
Cha-ching.
The average cost for supplies and backpacks – with no frills included – is $85 per child, according to Shannon Fisher, social services supervisor with Wood County Job and Family Services. The total bill can be daunting for families, especially those with multiple children.
To help those families unable to handle the costs on their own, nearly 700 stocked backpacks are being given to Wood County children. Wood County Job and Family Services provided backpacks full of school supplies, plus new shoes, for 500 children.
And Wednesday, the United Way in Wood County and the Salvation Army teamed up to offer a Back to School Fair at Woodland Mall in Bowling Green. Those agencies worked with local churches, businesses and organizations to collect items for backpacks.
“We pooled community resources to have a larger, better coordinated backpack drive,” said Michael Caniglia, communications intern with United Way. “It’s an expense that is difficult for some families.”
The effort provided backpacks to 187 students in 87 local families.
“They are very appreciative,” Salvation Army board member Judy Wegmeyer said of those families getting the backpacks.
The same holds true for those getting backpacks and shoes from Job and Family Services.
“The kids have been very excited, and the parents have been very thankful,” Fisher said. Some parents have said the help allowed them to keep up on other bills that would have been missed otherwise.
Fisher said she also got to talk with a little boy who had just picked out some new shoes for school with the voucher from Job and Family Services. “He was super excited,” she said.
The Back to School Fair was open to all families with children headed off to school, but was designed with low income families in mind. Several local organizations were on hand to provide information about the services and opportunities available to students and their families including out-of-school programming, health care options, rent and utility assistance, early intervention services and more.
Back to School Fair
The Portage Lions Club provided vision screenings for preschoolers. Other participating agencies included Girl Scouts of Northwest Ohio, WSOS Community Action Commission, The Cocoon, Boy Scouts of America, Children’s Resource Center, Wood County Health District and Wood County Hospital.
Pat Snyder, of the Wood County Health District, said parents were being informed about services that are available on a sliding fee scale for those who need assistance. “We are letting parents know they and their children can come there for health care, including immunizations,” Snyder said of the health and wellness center.
Jackie Mears was talking to parents about WIC, the nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children. The program focuses on pregnant women, and children up to age 5. “We help them make good budget and nutrition choices,” she said.
The Back to School Fair helped United Way work on its goal of increasing school readiness in the region, Caniglia said. Studies have shown that half of the local children are not ready for kindergarten when they get to their first year of school. “They are not developmentally prepared for kindergarten,” he said.
The fair was intended to help link families with local services to bridge that gap for kids.
“The biggest problem people face is they don’t know where to turn,” Caniglia said.
So the Back to School Fair tried to make that easy by putting so many services in one place.
“Today is about making sure families in need get the services they need,” said Harley Maddox, director of the Salvation Army in Bowling Green.
Though the coordinated effort to provide backpacks reached nearly 700 children, Fisher suspects there are more families who could use the help.
“I think there are probably more needs out there,” she said.
Maddox noted the costs of purchasing all the items on the school supply lists.
“The lists are so long,” she said. “If you have several children, it all adds up.”
Anyone wishing to make a donation should contact the Bowling Green Salvation Army at 419-352-5918.
