Back 2 School collection: Public Drop off sites: Kroger Supermarkets from July 25th through August 7th.
Private
Collections --July 1st through August 3rd.
Back
2 School event: August 8th at "My Sister's House" 921 Howell Mill Rd. Atlanta, 30318, 2 till 6, volunteers needed noon till 6:30
Children's
Restoration Network's annual Back 2 School Program for homeless children provides children in shelters and group homes with NEW bookbags
and all necessary school supplies. WSB-TV is a major Partner in our Back 2 School program. This year all metro Atlanta Kroger Supermarkets,
a Family 2 Family Sponsor, will be serving as collection sites for the public to drop off NEW bookbags and school
supplies. Kroger Stores will serve as collection sites from July 24th thru August 7th. WSB will once again produce and air a Public
Service Announcement promoting the campaign. For more than 3,900 children living in metro-Atlanta, reality is that
they will be living in a shelter or group home sometime during the 2010/2011 school year. By the time a child arrives in that shelter
or group home, school grades are typically in a downward spiral. The perception some of these kids have about school, life, and themselves
is very bleak. There is no doubt that many children have good reason to think that. Our job is to provide hope, to reinforce their
self-confidence, provide them the tools needed to succeed, build their self-esteem, mentor them, listen to them, and embrace them
in a way that they come to realize in their own minds that things can and will get better. Helping them understand their choices and
attitudes toward school will empower them to have a better life. We must make sure they realize that a major key to breaking the cycle
of homelessness is first and foremost getting that basic education to build on.
Most of these children arrive in the shelter
or group home with little more than a bag of clothes. They have no means of acquiring a new book bag or the supplies to fill it, which
adds to the stress of starting in a new school, with unfamiliar teachers and students. We need a lot of help this year to reach our
goal for this year's collection: 3,800 new book bags and all of the supplies needed to fill them.
Supplies needed include:
NEW
BOOK BAGS, wide and college ruled notebook paper, spiral notebooks, 3 ring binders, pens, calculators, markers, scissors, rulers,
crayons, file folders, glue, dictionaries, and other supplies necessary for school. Volunteers will also be needed August 6th and
August 7th to sort and stuff the bookbags with school supplies. The sorting of school supplies & bag stuffing will be in
the Kings Market shopping Center, 1425 Market Blvd. Suite 200 {the old Compaq store} which is off of Old Alabama, and just
east of GA. 400. Hours for sorting school supplies and stuffing book bags are 10am till 4:30 August 6th & 7th. We will know
the exact address ay the end of July. Businesses, churches, clubs, and schools are encouraged to hold drives at their location. Promotional
supplies can be obtained from CRN. For more information or questions on you can help the collection or volunteer to serve please call
770 649-7117.
The dates for sorting school supplies are August 6th and 7th, with the Back 2 School event itself on
August 8th
How you can help:
- Conduct a new book bag and school supply drive at your office, church, neighborhood, civic/social
club, or just ask your friends to help. We can provide flyers and collection boxes.
- Serve as a site coordinator at a "drop off" site
around metro-Atlanta. This entails periodically dropping by a collection site and making sure the box is not running over and is in
good order. Call us to find out which locations are near you.
- You could have a Bake Sale or other fun event to raise money to help
cover the cost of the program.
- Volunteers will also be needed the week before August 8th to sort and stuff the bookbags with school
supplies. This will be done at a storefront in Roswell.
- Businesses, churches, clubs, individuals, and schools are encouraged to hold
drives at their location. Promotional supplies can be obtained from CRN.