VOLUNTEERS PREPARE BACKPACKS FOR OMAHA DISTRIBUTION EVENTS
OMAHA, Neb.—Every summer, The Salvation Army of Omaha gives away backpacks filled with school supplies to area kids in need for the upcoming school year. It’s a partnership with KETV NewsWatch 7 and Methodist Health System – and it’s called The Salvation Army 7 Can Help Kids Back to School Backpack Program.
Salvation Army Material Assistance and Seasonal Services program director Tiffanie McCowin and her group of volunteers have for weeks now been processing backpacks and supplies to get ready for the next step of the program.
“We are getting ready for our annual back-to-school distribution,” McCowin said. "Donations have started coming in, so we have had to inventory those and get all of those sorted."
Among her volunteers was Laura Fisher, who was an art teacher for 20 years.
“I consider myself a public-school advocate because not every child has the same privileges or opportunities, or they don't [all] have the ability to come with brand-new supplies," Fisher said. "So, it's really important to support teachers and kids and parents."
McCowin said the school supplies that they will fill the backpacks with include filler paper, spiral notebooks, writing utensils, glue, and spiral notebooks. Many of the items have been donated over the last several weeks by Omaha-area residents; others have been purchased thanks to donations from people around the metro.
"Each backpack is individually wrapped, so we have to individually unwrap all of those, cut off the tags," McCowin said. “We have another set of people helping to unbox some of our pencils and our crayons. So, when it's time for us to start stuffing the backpacks, they're all ready to go."
Fisher said the amount of supplies The Salvation Army of Omaha is working with is impactful.
“I appreciate that The Salvation Army does this every year with this massive backpack program,” she said. “I'm always amazed at the sheer quantity and volume of backpacks and supplies."
“This is a basic need for the kids that are going back to school in the next couple of weeks," McCowin said.
Fisher said that as a teacher, she has personally seen the difference that this program makes.
"Just being able to come to school with brand-new, shiny supplies—especially if you're from a family that can't afford it—it gets your year off to a really great start,” she said.
“It just gives kids confidence, and when you have more confidence, you do produce higher-quality work."
McCowin said the coming days will be especially important for getting all the volunteer slots filled because it is “crunch time."
"We've got to make sure that we have everything done and prepared and ready to go by Aug. 7," she said.