Hitting the stores for the sales tax holiday this weekend? Why not pick up an extra box of crayons while you’re out there?
Yes We Can! Dothan’s Active Parents Advocacy Group is sponsoring a “Stuff the Bus” supply drive for Dothan City Schools students from now until the end of August. The group is hoping that local residents will donate school supplies to help local schools take care of unmet needs.
Yes We Can! Dothan members will be at the center court of Wiregrass Commons Mall on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. throughout August to accept donations. People who want to make donations during the week can bring them to the mall’s offices, near the restrooms at the food court.
Cheryl Gibson, Yes We Can! Dothan advocacy group coordinator, said the group is seeking donations of school supplies such as paper, pencils, pens, binders, etc.
“This is a way the community can wrap their arms around their school children and make sure they start school with everything they need,” she said.
Gibson said as school budgets have tightened, schools are asking parents to provide supplies that the schools once provided.
Gibson said she recently took a list of school supplies required of first-graders at a local school and went shopping. She ended up spending $65 on supplies.
“And that was one of the shorter lists,” she said.
The majority of Dothan City Schools’ student body consists of students who meet federal requirements for the free and reduced lunch program, meaning that their families may struggle to buy all these supplies, especially families with multiple children.
“With the burden increasing, and the economy being in the state that it’s in, it may be difficult for them to put a check by all the items needed,” she said.
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