For the Reporter
Communities In Schools of Kent’s third annual Fill The Bus school supply drive collected a record 3,015 pounds of supplies.
The 44-day drive from July 13 to Aug. 23 took in 8,356 items.
The previous record was set in 2014 with 5,304 items donated, weighing 2,293 pounds.
The summer-long school supply drive culminated with two events on Aug. 20 at the Kent School District Administration Office and Kent Station. Community members had the opportunity to join new school district superintendent Calvin Watts and fill a bus with their donated items at both events.
Among the items donated were 224 packs of crayons, 632 spiral notebooks, 381 packs of pencils, 88 packs of markers, 55 binders, and 131 backpacks. A total of 4,113 items was donated in total — approximately half of the total amount of donated supplies.
School supplies began being distributed to Kent schools during the week of Aug. 24. At the time of this release, supplies had been given to Scenic Hill Elementary, Emerald Park Elementary, Springbrook Elementary, Neely O’Brien Elementary, Mill Creek Middle School, Cedar Heights Middle School, Kent-Meridian High School, Kentlake High School, and the Kent Phoenix Academy.
Supplies will continue to be distributed district-wide until all donations have been spread around.
Fill The Bus is an annual community effort to ensure Kent students start the school year prepared and ready to learn. Twenty-five community based organizations, businesses and churches joined CISK this year to make the school supply drive possible, including but not limited to: the school district, Kent Station, the Kent Kiwanis clubs, Sweet Themes Bakery, Zion Lutheran Church, St. John The Baptist Catholic Church, Wells Fargo, and others.
The community partners who collected the most donations were Zion Lutheran Church with 2,267 items; Sweet Themes Bakery with 388 items; Wells Fargo with 321 items; and Kent United Methodist Church with 308 items.
For information on Fill The Bus or to join the effort in 2016, email Katie Adams at kadams@ciskent.org.
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