Back to school budget pinches sometimes mean not all school kids can get the supplies they need, but a group of
Saginaw Valley State University students helped solve that problem this season.
Several SVSU students, all residents in the South East Community, contributed backpacks full of school supplies like paper, pencils and markers to more than 100 local elementary and middle school students.
The group raised money through fundraising events and gathering sponsorships from other organizations to buy the supplies, then worked to fill the bags, called "Prep Packs," and deliver them to four classrooms.
Saginaw Valley student Alicia Flynn led the Prep Packs program, and is a secondary education major from Monroe. She says the end result is worth the time and effort.
"Delivering the packs to the students is the most rewarding part," says Flynn. "To see their faces and excitement when they receive the bags makes the whole process worthwhile. It is really nice to take a step back and help out people in need."
This is the second year South East Community student residents have done the program. Eight students in all worked to get the supplies to the younger students.
The supplies were delivered to Lincoln Elementary School in the Bangor Township Schools; Saginaw Preparatory Academy, a charter school in Buena Vista Township; Zilwaukee International Studies School and Thompson Middle School in the Saginaw Public Schools.
In the two years the program has been in existence, more than 220 packs have been delivered to eight area classrooms.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Alicia Flynn, Saginaw Valley State University
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