NORFOLK, Va. — A local non-profit is on a mission to help struggling families with back-to-school supplies.
The ForKids Organization in Norfolk is asking the community to help fill up backpacks so that every child within reach has an equal chance to succeed in the classroom.
"The things that most people think of, we absolutely need: pencils, notebooks, binders — but also things that other people don’t think about, like hand sanitizer, locks, scientific graph calculators," Bjorn Koxvold, event coordinator at ForKids, said. "All those are really important as well."
Ceyeissha McKim, whose daughter is in fourth grade, said the stress of budgeting for back-to-school supplies takes its toll.
"I always remember to just try to budget as much as I can but even with budgeting — and as a single mother — it is very stressful," McKim said.
Inflation plays a large role in creating difficult choices for parents feeling the financial squeeze.
That's why Koxvold said it is crucial the community steps in to ensure all students are set up to succeed.
"There are certain kinds of calculators they need that are actually 20 or 30 dollars," Koxvold said. "That calculator can cost as much as a book bag."
She the importance of a student's learning cannot be underestimated.
"I have two daughter’s myself and one thing that is really important to me — I see every day when kids don’t have the tools they need and how that affects their success in school," Koxvold said.
ForKids will be collecting items for its back-to-school backpack drive until August 18th. Backpacks and school supplies can be dropped off at any Southern Bank location.
"It takes an entire community to bring this together," Koxvold said.
