The West Virginia Department of Education is leading a multi-county effort to help schools affected by the June flooding in the state to replenish their lost supplies and provide needed materials for students. A Back-to-School Supply Drive will take place now through July 30 with collection sites operating throughout Kanawha County.
The goal of the drive is to provide each individual student in the severely affected flood areas with a book bag of school supplies. Organizers have set a goal of collecting 8,000 book bags with supplies such as pencils, ink pens and rulers. A list of needed school supplies, grouped by grade level, is available on the West Virginia Department of Education website at wvde.state.wv.us.
Collection sites in Kanawha County include the following locations during business hours:
n Capitol Market, 800 Smith St., outside center court
n Charleston Town Center Mall, center court
n Courtyard by Marriott, 100 Kanawha Blvd. E.
n South Charleston Public Library, 312 4th Ave., South Charleston
n Walmart, 2700 Mountaineer Blvd., South Charleston
n West Virginia State University, 5000 Fairlawn Ave., Institute, Curtis House
After items are collected, they will be packaged by volunteers and distributed to affected schools as the new academic year begins.
The West Virginia Department of Education is partnering with Read Aloud West Virginia and West Virginia State University Extension Service to collect donations in Kanawha County.
For more information and a statewide list of collection sites, visit the WVDE website at wvde.state.wv.us.