St. Paul’s helping kids get back to school

Believe it or not, the start of the new school year is less than a month away.
School supply lists will soon begin to be checked off, with backpacks ready to go.
Unfortunately, for some, that process will not come easily. That is why numerous organizations and other groups rally yearly to collect school supplies for those in need.
Among those groups are St. Paul’s Episcopal Church parishioners in Abbeville.
“St. Paul’s has been participating in this ministry for about 15 years now,” St. Paul’s Mother Madge McLain said while speaking to the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville. “For 15 years, we have bought about 200 backpacks.”
Each backpack is furnished with markers, crayons, pencil sharpener, pencils, scissors, notebooks and folders.
“That all comes within these backpacks,” McLain said. “The backpacks are excellent quality.”
The church delivers the backpacks to the Vermilion Parish School System before the start of the school year. That helps get students ready for the beginning of the school year.
“What we have come to find out,” McLain said, “is that generally, halfway through the school year, there is a shortage of school supplies, with notebooks, pencils and things like that.”
McLain said whatever funds are raised beyond the initial 200 filled backpacks will be designated toward buying school supplies that can be utilized throughout the year.
“We will deliver those to Vermilion Parish,” McLain said. “It’s important, too, because all the new has worn off in the middle of the year, and some kids are left without the necessary supplies. Teachers are buying many of these supplies out of their pockets.”
Members of the Kiwanis Club helped pad those funds by donating to St. Paul’s on Tuesday. McLain thanked the club.
“This is a great project,” McLain said. “We thank you for your lovely contribution.”