Salvation Army hands out school supplies to families

By Jazmine Knight

St. Joseph residents were wrapped around the building for Salvation Army’s back-to-school drive on Thursday.

Each student received a backpack filled with school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, crayons and more.

All of the items were donated through United Way of Greater St. Joseph’s Stuff the Bus event, where community members could purchase supplies and then donate them to help fill an entire school bus.

After a week of preparation, each backpack is carefully curated based on the child’s gender and grade level, ensuring every kid has everything they need for back to school.

Major Ronald Key with the Salvation Army said the whole process of distributing a back usually takes about 10-15 minutes.

“We ask for proof of residency, if they got a food stamp card and then proof of the children that they have,” he said.

The back-to-school drive serves children from kindergarten all the way to high school. Volunteers are also there to help every step of the way, passing out backpacks, issuing tissue boxes and guiding people in the right direction.

Key said the giveaway is a way to give back to the parents of the St. Joseph community by eliminating one back-to-school cost.

“I actually kind of went through Walmart to see how much it was for everything that we get. It was about $170, so most people couldn’t afford that $170,” Key said. “So this helps them free them up so they don’t have to make a decision between backpacks, food, paying the utility.”

Parent Ashley Zeamer has four children, and Salvation Army’s giveaway has helped her family tremendously.

“This actually took a lot of stress off me because of the fact that trying to go buy them all supplies and then they all need multiple things and trying to do all that has been kind of hard,” she said.

Zeamer said because of the giveaway, she is able to put more food on the table for her family.

“If it was like this, I was going through about $300-$400 worth trying to get all my kids taken care of for all their supplies.”

This is Zeamer’s second year attending the giveaway and for her, it’s the kind people that bring her back.

“They did a wonderful job helping me. I mean, I’ve watched them help others. They’re really good about it and polite,” Zeamer said.

For Key, even though he loves stuffing the backpacks, his favorite part is giving them out.

“That’s where we get the blessings and we get the ‘thank you’s.’ And people leave here happy,” Key said.

And to the community members who helped Stuff the Bus, Zeamer wants to give thanks for their generosity.

“I hope they have a blessed day and keep pushing it forward. I plan to pay it forward when I’m able to,” she said.