School supply drive begins

By Mark Johnson

More than 450 students in the Raytown School District are expected to return to classes in August with new school supplies provided by the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program.

The number receiving assistance could go even higher with the current economic conditions.

“We may be seeing people who we’ve never seen before who right now are just barely getting by,” REAP Director Al Brown said.

Dr. Steve Shelton, director of secondary education for the Raytown School District, realizes the importance of the effort.

“It greatly benefits these students by providing them with equal resources for their educational opportunities,” he said.

The school supplies, which are donated by the community, will be distributed Wednesday, Aug. 13, at Faith Presbyterian Church.

Families receiving the supplies will be pre-screened for need, Brown said.

The annual REAP School Supply Drive is close to two decades old.

Brown said it is one of his favorite REAP programs.

“The kids are thrilled to get their new school supplies, and knowing that they’ll get to go back to school with what all the other kids have makes it special,” he said.

Groups, organizations and individuals wanting to donate supplies can leave them in the collection barrels at any of the following locations: Raytown Lee’s Summit Teacher’s Credit Union, 10021 E. 66th Terrace; Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 7009 Blue Ridge Blvd.; Blue Ridge Boulevard United Methodist Church, 5055 Blue Ridge Blvd.; Raytown Tribune, 10227 E. 61st St.; Wal-Mart, 6709 Blue Ridge Blvd.; Raytown City Hall, 10000 E. 59th St.; and the REAP office, 7218 Maple.

Anyone wanting to help prepare the school supplies for distribution can call 356-0054.

Families needing school supply assistance can also call 356-0054.

What supplies are needed:

- Ballpoint pens, black and blue 

- Colored pencils, box of 12 

- Compasses 

- Crayola crayons, boxes of 16 and 24 

- Elmer’s glue, 4 and 8 oz. bottles 

- Erasers, pink 

- Fiskar scissors, pointed and blunt 

- Glue sticks 

- Graph paper, 4-inch square 

- Highlighters 

- Index cards, lined and unlined 

- Magic markers, (black) with slanted tip 

- Notebook paper, narrow and wide ruled 

- Notebooks, 1 ½ inch, three ring 

- Packs of dividers 

- No. 2 pencils 

- Plastic school boxes 

- Pocket folders, with and without prongs 

- Protractors, 6 inches 

- Red and blue pencils and pens 

- Rulers (inches and millimeters) 

- Spiral notebooks (70 pages), narrow and wide ruled 

- Spiral steno notebooks 

- Washable markers, thick, Crayola No. 8, basic colors 

- Watercolors (Prang) 

- Zippered pencil bags

Raytown Editor Mark Johnson can be reached at 358-6397 or mjohnson@npgco.com.