Plains Church is offering free school supplies as the school year approaches

PLAINS — Back-to-school season is officially here, and with that comes the need for school supplies.

The Plains community is coming together to help distribute school supplies to those in need.

“We’re assisting with the students in Sanders County — school supplies, from backpacks to school supplies to clothing, as well as shoes,” said Church on the Move outreach coordinator Jessica Peterson.

The free school supplies event – ​​organized by Church on the Move – will give 80 students a chance to collect the supplies they need to start the school year.

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There is also a clothing bank where families can pick out new clothes for school. The clothing bank is also open outside of the school supply event and anyone can stop by on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10am and 2pm.

“The Plains community is so generous and it’s just nice to be a part of helping, to help get these clothes out to kids who need them,” Church in Motion volunteer Ginnette Petras told MTN.

“It helps a lot. We really appreciate it. It’s, it’s fun to look at new things and if we didn’t have money, we’d go down and it’s very appreciative of them,” shared Nicole Giese, parent of a 7th grader.

For some families, this is a huge help and allows them to provide their children with the materials they need without causing them financial strain.

Zach Vollheim/MTN News

Peterson, the organizer of this event, encourages others to come together and help their communities, as the need for such events exists in communities large and small.

“This is something that any community can start. You can start small or go a little bigger. You know, it’s been a fun year, an event for everyone and it’s so needed. Whether it’s a small community or a large community, people need that little bit of help. So this is something that you can, you can to get back to,” noted Peterson.

The impact of the event was immediately seen in all the families at the presentation, with students running excitedly to pick out all their new supplies.

“My daughter loves them, she loves her new shoes that she, she picked out. They are different colors. So everything was good,” said Giese.