BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — School may be out for summer break, but a local hospital is doing its part to ensure the next school year gets off to a great start.
With help from community donations and employee fundraisers, Ascension St. Vincent in Clay County provides backpacks full of school supplies for students as part of their Backpack Program.
Students in the Clay Community Schools can sign up for the program and receive a backpack later this summer.
The hospital expects to give out over 200 backpacks this summer.
“We have a mixture of kids that come up, they are super excited cause they might have got their favorite color backpack. We really try to specialize the backpack, you know, we put a lot of thought into it for each kid,” said Executive Assistant Emily Staley.
When filling the backpacks with supplies, the hospital looks at the school supply list for each grade in the school system. That way, students have exactly what they need for the school year.
It’s also an opportunity for the hospital to give back to the community.
“It’s an engagement for the community, not just in healthcare, but for the community itself. It’s just the way to ease the burden for parents and grandparents and or guardians so that they don’t have to endure the full cost of school supplies,” said Supervisor of Supply Chain Jessica Lundy.
The hospital said sign-up sheets for the program need to be completed and turned in by June 20.
