School supply drive is underway once again

It is that time once again, as students and parents start to prepare for the beginning of yet another school year,
Glenn Haug of the Times-Herald said although many children around the city will be out and about picking up the latest trends in school supplies, there are others who will not have that luxury and have to use their older siblings' hand-me-downs, or worse, go without supplies at all.
To prevent this from happening, Haug said the Times-Herald and Staples Business Depot are collecting school supplies for those children in need.
"Basically, what we do is each year we put a call out to the public to help out some of those parents and students who may not be able to afford all of their school supplies."
He said in previous years people have donated notebooks, crayons, pens, pencils and more.
Haug said the collection isn't just for younger students. It is for students of all ages.
He said if people are stuck on what supplies to buy, the staff at Staples has put together supply bags that can be purchased at the store.
"Staples has been a wonderful partner and the staff has backed this project 100 per cent."
This year there are two drop spots - at the Times-Herald office, 44 Fairford St. W., and Staples.
He said once the two businesses have collected all of the supplies, they are then divided and taken to the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Separate School Division and Prairie South School Division for distribution.
At this time, Haug said the collection is off to a slow start, which he attributes to the economy. However, he said the need for the school supplies is there more than ever.
In the past, Haug said up to four or five shopping carts of supplies have been collected and he hopes this year will be no different.
In the coming weeks he is sure the generosity of the Moose Jaw people will come through and this years collection will be just as successful as years past.
He said the reason this is such an important cause is because it's for children.
"The start of the new school year is always a fun time for the kids and just think how much more fun they will have knowing they have everything they need to make the year a success."

Lyndsay McCready can be reached
at 691-1256.