School Supply Drive sees large increase in demand

The 16^th Annual School Supply Drive proved to be yet another success. Over 275 children received individualized backpacks filled with school supplies. This number represents a significant increase from the almost 200 children served in 2018. 

The drive is put on through the efforts of the Jones County Family Council, Cedar/Jones Early Childhood Iowa, and Lutheran Services of Iowa. 

People throughout Jones County took donated school supplies to multiple locations in Jones County. Organizations including Jones Regional Medical Center, Above & Beyond Home Health and Hospice, and the Anamosa Care Center also hosted supply drives within their own employees. The supplies donated helped to benefit families with children in grades preschool through high school. 

Heather Weers, coordinator for the Jones County Family Council, explained how the community has really offered a lot of help to the project. In addition to donated supplies, the project was funded with over $3,600 in monetary donations from a wide variety of individuals and organizations and a grant from the McDonough Foundation. Monetary donations were used to purchase supplies that were not donated. 

“This additional support was huge because without monetary donations, we would not be able to get each child what they need on their school supply list,” offered Weers. “This is a great project to be part of. Families are very appreciative of the items they receive. You can see a big relief in their faces knowing that they have what they need to start school and this provides excitement in the kiddos to start school.” 

The program gathers supply lists from every school district in Jones County. Each backpack is filled for individual students, taking into account their grade level and gender. 

Aside from school supplies, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and Clorox wipes were donated for the drive. 

“These items provided a big help to one of the most costly items needed for the School Supply Drive,” Weers said. The Monticello Express and Anamosa Journal Eureka provided in-kind advertising to help spread the word to families. 

“We think it’s very important that every child starts school on equal ground with the right tools needed to succeed in school,” said Weers of their mission with the School Supply Drive. “School supplies can be very costly and every child should have the same opportunity to be successful when they enter the school on their first day. We can’t thank the community enough for jumping on board and helping out.” 

Over 41 percent of the children in Jones County are eligible for free and reduced lunch rates. This equates to 1,135 children and their families living at 185 percent or below the Federal Poverty Rate. For a family of four, 185 percent of the Poverty Rate is an annual income of $47,638 or less.