Community Steps Up For Supplies 4 Success

Third grader Logan Foster helps sort supplies just days before school started.

Once again, our community has stepped up in a major way to help our students in need start off the school year with the supplies necessary to succeed in the classroom.

For the fourth straight year, community organizations, led by the Lakewood Family Collaborative and chairperson Karen Lee, have banded together to make the Supplies 4 Success initiative a summer staple and critical effort in helping our students.

Besides the district, partners in the effort include Trinity Lakewood Community Outreach, Help to Others and Lakewood Community Services Center.

All summer long, Lakewood residents and businesses responded to the call for supplies with donations that amounted to more than 13,000 items, from more than 6,000 pens and pencils to a handful of book covers and every supply you can think of in between.

More than $4,000 in cash donations were received that can be used to buy expensive items such as graphing calculators.

A special thank you to larger donors Cuttin’ Loose Salon and Lakewood Hardware; Lakewood & Rocky River Rotary; St. Peter’s Episcopal Church; Emerson, Grant, Harding and Harrison PTAs; and H2O for the large amount of recycled supplies it collected. A number of organizations and businesses also particpated by collecting supplies from its members or employees.

Also critical to the effort were the many businesses that served as dropoff spots: Goddess Blessed, KB Confections, Lakewood Rec, Pet’s General Store, PNC Bank, The Coffee Pot, Beck Center and The Root Cafe.

“I am always touched by the generosity of our community. Support comes from all aspects of Lakewood: businesses, civic groups, churches and individuals. This collaboration of giving is what makes the drive successful each year. The impact for our families is immeasurable,” Lee said.