Back-to-school supplies: Some for your kids and some for those in need

My daughter and I started plotting out our back-to-school shopping plans yesterday. It’s that time.

Emma and I love our annual shopping trip for binder paper, glue sticks, notebooks, mechanical pencils and on and on. We generally stop at two or three stores before heading home with bags of great stuff for Emma and my son. (Noah’s happy to stay home with dad and trusts us to buy for him.)

We’ve also made a point of buying extra supplies for children whose parents can’t afford to stock up. Back when I was still working at The San Diego Union-Tribune, I helped organize a supply drive for an elementary school that the paper had adopted.

We put a huge bin in the employee entrance for a few weeks and people would generously bring in bags of supplies. Every year, Dave, a very sweet copy editor, would give me cash to buy backpacks because he said he wouldn’t know what kind to get.

Lynn, a woman in our community relations department, and Martin, a security guard, would empty the bin as it filled up; we usually ended up with 15 or 20 large boxes filled with supplies. Soon before school started, the husband of a woman who worked at the school would pick up the boxes and deliver them to the school. This was a very grassroots affair.

Yesterday, Emma recalled one of her middle school science teachers telling her class that some kids she had taught over the years could not afford the most basic supplies.

She told them about one boy who did not bring in the required notebook for the class. When asked why didn’t have one, he explained that his parents couldn’t afford a notebook until his dad got paid. The teacher pulled out a notebook and gave it to the boy, who expressed genuine appreciation.

As you are out and about picking up back-to-school supplies, here are two opportunities to donate necessities to needy children.

Staples and DoSomething.org are teaming up for their second school supply drive. Supplies can be dropped off at any Staples story by Sept. 19. Last year the campaign collected enough supplies to fill tens of thousands of backpacks.

You can find more information at do.something.org.

Also, Borders and Waldenbooks stores are collecting new children’s books to donate to charities. Each store has selected a charity in its area. Books will be accepted through the first week of September.