Mountainview Christian Fellowship in Sultan has teamed up with the Volunteers of America (VOA) to provide free backpacks filled with school supplies to local Sky Valley students in need.
The backpack giveaway event will be held on Sunday, August 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Mountainview Christian Fellowship in Sultan. The event will include family-friendly fun, including giant human-sized hamster balls for kids to play in and free barbecue hotdogs for lunch.
"Everybody's welcome and there's no strings attached,GÇ¥ said Mountainview Fellowship Lead Pastor Sean Wilkerson. "We're just loving on the community.GÇ¥
Wilkerson explained that the church was able to raise $5000 to help purchase the school supplies. They have also received donations from places like Costco, who donated several boxes of backpacks. The VOA has also been collecting supply donations as well as monetary donations. Monetary donations were used to purchase things like glue sticks, colored pencils, markers, scissors, rulers, pencil sharpeners, pencil pouches, spiral notebooks and more.
"We try to get the basics,GÇ¥ said VOA Program Manager Jennifer Reasoner. "We know it's expensive. We're hoping that the backpack and the essential supplies will get them through at least the first couple weeks.GÇ¥
This year, each backpack will include one free haircut, donated by Sultan business owner Danette Forrest-Maki. Forrest-Maki, who owns A Cut Above hair salon, has been a cosmetologist for over 25 years.
The backpacks are prepared specifically with different age groups of kids in mind, so that backpacks for kids in high school will offer a different range of supplies then will the middle school backpacks or the backpacks designated for elementary students. Kids and teenagers from Sultan all the way up to Skykomish are welcome to attend the event and pick up supplies.
"We make sure all the kids leave with a backpack,GÇ¥ said Reasoner.
Last year, the backpack event in Sultan handed out 344 backpacks.
Reasoner shared that they could still use a few donations, particularly spiral notebooks and pink erasers. Anybody interested in helping out with donations can contact Reasoner at the VOA at (360) 793-2400 or Pastor Sean Wilkerson at Mountainview Christian Fellowship at (360) 793-0731.
Mountainview Christian Fellowship is located at 211 6th St. in Sultan. Folks are welcome to pull directly into the church's parking lot despite the road construction currently taking place in the area.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment