Santa does more than gifts, this time of year it’s school supplies

For the 2018 School Supply Santa drive, 1,219 backpacks were collected along with 38,000 school supplies. (Supplied)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

A school ad shows a student larger than life because of all the new school supplies and clothes she got. But for some local residents, just purchasing the basic school supplies can be a momental task.

“In one of the places I recently volunteered, I talked to families who stated ‘My next paycheck would have to go toward school supplies,’” said WKTV Journal host Donna Kidner Smith.

It is the reason that Denise Kooiker created the School Supply Santa more than 10 yeas ago.

“I am hairdresser and I was at work one day and one of my clients was telling me about the need for school supplies and how much teachers spend on their classrooms and to help their students,” Kooiker said. “I was totally unaware of the need for school supplies.”

Kooiker discovered that more than 94 percent of teachers spend an average of $500 of their money on classroom supplies, she said. She created School Supply Santa to help teachers help those students who need it, Kooiker said.

Through Aug. 7, various locations throughout the Wyoming, Kentwood, Byron Center ,and Grand Rapids area are serving as collection sites. Some of the Wyoming locations are Amethyst Beauty Bar, Beltline Bar, Edward Jones, For the Kids Gymnastics, Maple Hill Golf, Peach Wave, Shape Your Life, and the YMCA – Spartan on Gezon Avenue. In Kentwood, some of the drop off sites are Breton Garden Family Dentistry, DJ’s Landscape Management, Grand Coney Diner, Fast Signs, and the Omelette Shop. For a complete list of locations, visit schoolsupplysanta.com.

Area residents are encouraged to bring donations to those locations. Items needed are backpacks, crayons, colored pencils, dry erase expo markers, ear buds, erasers, solid color folders, glue sticks, Post-it notes, Kleenex, pencils, markers notebooks, three-ring binders, composition notebooks, and headphones.

Kooiker said some of the school supplies, such as backpacks, do take a beating over the course or a year, so buying the cheapest item is not always the best option.

“Some of the less quality backpacks will rip fairly quickly,” Kooiker said.

Financial contributions also are accepted at schoolsupplysanta.com.

Staff and teachers from Kentwood Public Schools, Wyoming Public Schools, Godwin Heights Public Schools, Godfrey-Lee Pubic Schools, Kelloggsville Public Schools, and Byron Center Public Schools will attend a special event in August to pick up the school supplies. The staff from the schools then distribute it to students who have a need, Kooiker said.

Last year, School Supply Santa collected 1,219 backpacks, more than 38,000 school supplies, which supported 34 local schools, grades K-12, and more than 2,500 students.

And while the 2019 season for collections is coming to a close, the School Supply Santa does collect year around, Kooiker said. If you are interested in donating or volunteering for School Supply Santa, visit schoolsupplysanta.com or the Facebook page, School Supply Santa.