Crayons to Calculators, an annual school supply drive for Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley students, is seeking donations of money or supplies and backpack-stuffing volunteers.
The goal is to provide 11,000-plus backpacks of school supplies, which can cost more than $75 per student a year, to preschool through high school students. Combined, the two school districts enroll about 15,000 students who receive federal lunch assistance, an indication of poverty.
Supply lists, collection sites and volunteer opportunities can be found at CrayonsToCalculators.org. Collection sites are open through July 27.
Crayons to Calculators, a collaborative partnership between the Education Foundation for the St. Vrain Valley and Impact on Education, started in 2005 to combine the community’s efforts and resources into one main school supply drive each year.
“What I love the most about the Crayons to Calculators program is seeing the community get involved in helping our kids,” Allison Billings, Impact’s executive director, said in a written statement. “The backpacks and supplies are delivered directly to each school before the start of the year, allowing school staff to privately and seamlessly get backpacks and supplies into the hands of the families in need.”
Schools in the two districts provide lists of students whose families are low income or need extra help, allowing the drive to target its resources. The backpacks are given to students in August.
The supply drive’s title sponsor, Western Disposal Services, donated $100,000, enough for organizers to buy about half the needed supplies in bulk. In its 12 years of support, Western Disposal has donated more than $1.4 million to Crayons to Calculators, helping the drive get off the ground and sustaining it over time.
Additional sponsors include Nordson Corporation and Encore Data Products, which this year is assisting with supplying headphones and earbuds — new items to the Crayons to Calculators supply lists.
The supplies purchased hit the highlights of the various school supply lists, giving students the basics they’ll need for the year. Any extras, including supplies that aren’t on the lists, go to schools with large percentages of low-income students to help teachers stock their classrooms.
Monetary donations are particularly helpful, organizers say, allowing them to make the money go further by buying supplies in bulk. High school supplies, which include scientific calculators and binders, also are especially needed.
For St. Vrain Valley, volunteers are needed to pack backpacks from July 8 to July 29 at Sunset Middle School in Longmont. For Boulder Valley, volunteers are needed to pack backpacks Tuesday through Aug. 2 at Community Montessori School in Boulder.
