Those pencils, pens, notebooks and odds and ends necessary to send kids back to school can easily add up to a Benjamin bill, as the average parent is expected to spend $107.76 on school supplies this year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Add on $235.39 for clothing, $204.06 for electronics and $126.35 for shoes, and educating our kids becomes an expensive parental responsibility.
To ease the burden, several local businesses and organizations are holding school supply drives with donation drop-off locations around the Valley.
HomeAid Southern Nevada kicked off its drive in July with a goal of providing 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies and personal hygiene products for Project 150, a nonprofit group that helps homeless, displaced and disadvantaged students.
A $60 donation fills a backpack with essentials for school and life, says Catilin Shea, executive director of HomeAid Southern Nevada. Go to Project150.org for drop-off sites.
School supplies will be collected throughout August at Lexus of Las Vegas, 6600
W. Sahara Avenue, and Lexus of Henderson, 7736 Eastgate Road in Henderson. Collection boxes are located near the parts departments. Suggested items for donation include backpacks, notebooks, notebook paper, pocket folders, markers, crayons and colored pencils. Lexus is sponsoring the drive for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas.
More than 15,000 Nevada Association of Realtors members are teaming up with the Boys & Girls Clubs to collect and donate backpacks filled with school supplies for students at the clubs. Anyone wishing to donate supplies can stop in at a licensed Realtors’ office.
The Galleria at Sunset mall is holding a back-to-school supply drive in partnership with the Assistance League. Donate school supplies from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on August 20 and be entered to win a $100 gift card.
Nevada State Bank is collecting school supplies and donations for Communities in Schools of Nevada, part of a national program to prevent dropouts. All of the bank’s branches in the Valley are accepting supplies, which will be dropped off August 12 at the Communities in Schools bus at Sam’s Club at 7100 Arroyo Crossing Parkway. Last year, the supplies reached more than 44,000 students throughout Nevada.
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