FOX 2 News Kelley Hoskins in St. Louis explains
There are more than 90,000 students in St. Louis who cannot afford basic school supplies like pencils, paper and crayons. KidSmart—Tools for Learning helps these children succeed in school by providing free school supplies through KidSmart's Free Store.
Donations from individuals and businesses help keep the shelves of KidSmart's Free Store stocked with everything from crayons, markers and glue to business surplus items such as binders, envelopes and promotional items. Community volunteers stock the shelves, manage inventory and keep the free store running each shopping day.
School supplies may not be seen as a necessity for life, however many children in the St. Louis area already come to school without breakfast, lunch or lunch money. Those same children have no school supplies to receive a quality education. "You can take the best teachers and the brightest kids and you put them in a classroom without paper or markers or pencils, glue and exciting books to read and poster board and who overcomes that challenge to learn?" said Jennifer Miller, Spokesperson for KidSmart.
KidSmart is a non- profit organization who's mission to empower children and believe in the power of a single book, a pencil, a crayon. So simple , yet it empowers children and make a difference in their education. "Sometimes parents lose their jobs and they just can not afford to get paper and pencils. It's for their children, it's either that or food on the table, " said volunteer Gene Book
In St. Louis a great number of children come from homes where parents are struggling. In some school districts, many students receive some type of financial assistance . When the children leave school with their homework, it`s not completed properly the next day because they have no school supplies at home.
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