Collect for Kids provides school supplies for needy students

Sally Saunders (left) of Engility Corp. with Our Daily Bread’s Seasonal Programs Manager Dawn Sykes at Oak View Elementary School in Fairfax. Engility employees contributed to ODB’s 2014 Collect for Kids Back to School Program and delivered school supplies to needy students. [ODB]

While many parents are spending hundreds of dollars to get their children ready for the new school year, some of our neighbors can’t even afford the basics.

That’s why Our Daily Bread’s
(ODB) Collect for Kids Back to School program is so important. It seeks
donations from the public to provide school supplies, backpacks, and
calculators to more than 2,000 needy students who attend JEB Stuart and Fairfax high schools and the elementary and middle schools that feed into them. Thanks to generous donations from corporations, organizations, and individuals, the program is able to purchase school supplies at deep discounts.

The ODB program is part of the countywide Collect for Kids program, which is supported by Fairfax County Public Schools, Kids R First, the Fairfax County Office of Public and Private Partnerships, Apple Federal Credit Union, and other community-based organizations and businesses.

ODB’s 2015 Collect for Kids Back to School Program is sponsored by the Maximus Foundation, the Rotary Club of Falls Church, and the Rotary Club of Annandale.

Donations can be made through ODB’s website or mailed to ODB at  4080 Chain Bridge Road, 2nd Floor, Fairfax, VA 22030.

Donations of new backpacks (larger sizes are especially needed) and/or gently used scientific calculators are also welcome. They may be brought to ODB’s offices through Aug. 7, Mondays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information on donating or sponsoring the program, contact Dawn Sykes, 703-273-8829.