ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Not only did the community load the bus, but it was overflowing with more school supplies than ever before.
Load the Bus had a milestone year for its 20th anniversary, raising more than $50,000 in supplies for area students.
Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Salem City and Craig County Public Schools all benefited.
More than 50,000 pieces were collected over the three-day weekend in August, according to school officials.
“We have a lot of families who are struggling right now. The last thing we want is for a student to be in a school and not have the tools they need to be successful and have confidence in the classroom,” said Roanoke County Public Schools spokesperson Chuck Lionberger.
Roanoke City packed a total of 3,360 bags of school supplies, which were distributed at our annual Back-to-School Extravaganza. The total value of those supplies was $20,930.68.
Of the 3,360 bags, 1,800 were for elementary students and 1,560 were for secondary students.
“This total does not include donations we continue to receive, which will be used in conjunction with any remaining supplies from Extravaganza to resupply schools as needed throughout the school year. The total also does not include certain supplies we received that we did not pack into bags but instead gave directly to the corresponding academic department, such as protractors for math classes,” clarified Coordinator of Communications Claire Mitzel by email Monday.
Roanoke County schools estimate a retail value of $29,648.
Elementary schools in Salem received $500 worth of supplies, a spokesperson said. Craig County Schools also benefitted, Lionberger said.
“We cannot overemphasize how grateful we are for the community’s support. We want all our students — and by all, I mean throughout the entire Roanoke Valley — to start the year off right by having the supplies they need,” added Mitzel.