BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING- According to the National Retail Federation, families with K-12 children in the United States plan to spend $864 on school supplies, such as notebooks, pencils, backpacks, and lunchboxes. And for many families – these “Back to School” costs can add an extra burden on an already challenged family budget. The United Way of Northwest Louisiana has launched a two-week program to help families-in-need get school supplies through its “Fill the Bus School Supply Drive”. Carly Koen is Vice President of External Relations with United Way of Northwest Louisiana and explains how it works.
“Fill the Bus is our back-to-school initiative that takes place every year at participating Wal-Mart Supercenters,” Koen explained. ” Our goal is to fill a literal bus with school supplies that we can then donate to the teachers. And the teachers that are out there volunteering with us, they’re encouraging shoppers to support their own students in their classroom.”
United Way’s Fill The Bus program kicks off today in Shreveport – Bossier. If you see a Wal-Mart with a large school bus parked in front, that’s a participating store. And if you’d like to know more information you can check the United Way of Northwest Louisiana’s website:
www.unitedwaynwla.org/fillthebus Volunteer teachers will be on site handing out lists of school supplies needed.
