PRISM: Volunteers Help Meet Need for School Supply Drive
Friday was an exciting day for PRISM in Golden Valley as the charitable group kicked off its annual Back to School Success Program. PRISM and seven partner churches have been collecting backpacks and school supplies to give to financially strained families. Their first pickup day was Friday, August 21.
As cars streamed in to collect supplies, Executive Director Michelle Ness reflected on the importance of the program even this year, when COVID-19 could prevent the kids from even going to school in person.
“The sense of normalcy, of going back to school, the excitement of a brand new backpack is incredibly important,” Ness said.
This year instead of just relying on donations from the community, PRISM reached out to churches and faith partners to fill the backpacks.
If you could use assistance with school supplies and you missed the first pickup day, that’s okay. There’s another one scheduled for Aug. 28. If you miss both drives, they’ll have an ongoing program to pick up supplies as well.
If you’d like to help PRISM meet its goals, Ness says you can do that too.
“Our food shelf continues to be extremely busy. We’ve seen a full 60 percent increase in the number of households that are coming through,” she said.
Ness suggests in addition to financially supporting the food shelf, if you have spare produce from your garden, they’d be happy to take that as well.
For information on the Back to School Success Program as well as other PRISM initiatives, check their website.
