A nonprofit based in Normal is continuing its tradition of supplying students with school supplies for the back-to-school season — with some extra help from the community.
The Back to School Alliance will once again be handing out backpacks with school supplies to low-income families in District 87 and Unit 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the north parking deck of State Farm.
The group’s goal is to match last year’s distribution number of 4,000 backpacks.
Event chair Jan Meadows stressed the importance of putting the materials in student’s hands before the year begins.
“There’s a lot of research out there on the importance of students starting off with everything they need just to get off to a good start,” Meadows said. “I know I’ve been known to say that as a first-grade teacher, there’s nothing sadder than [to] have a six-year-old walk in totally empty-handed while everyone else is getting all their treasures out of their bag ... and the other kid stands there and looks at that and it just sets the tone for them for starting off school.”
Having proper supplies is only half the process of making sure students are set for the school year; they must also be registered with the school they will be attending in the fall and meet all the requirements of the McLean County Health Department.
Meadows said the alliance is aware of this issue and uses the backpack giveaway to ensure students are prepared on all fronts.
“It used to be that if kids didn’t have their paperwork filled out, if they weren’t registered or if their health records weren’t complete, we excluded them from school,” Meadows said.
“So, in an effort to help the [McLean County] Health Department not have that crush at the beginning of the school year, and to help schools make sure students were registered before the first day, we came up with this plan, ‘Ee’ll give you a free backpack and supplies if you do what you can do for your students.’”
The event switched to a drive-up format to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and it has remained that way ever since. The event had been held previously at Grossinger Motors Arena.
The drive-up format was recently made more accessible with donations from First Student bus company and Connect Transit running routes in Normal and Bloomington to pick up neighborhood families and take them to the event.
As a former teacher, Meadows said she has seen firsthand how events like this impact students from low-income households.
“Every year we collect out at the doors at Walmart,” Meadows said. “One year we had a taxi driver who kept going around and dropping people off at Walmart at the door right by where our tent was. Toward the end of the day, he pulls up and he says to me, ‘Hey you, come here.’ I went over and he handed me five bucks and he said, ‘I had to make sure I made enough in tips to pay my bills this month, but I wanted to give back because I was one of those kids that didn’t have.’”
