Other Voices—
From a volunteer with Saline Area Social Service, exclusive to Saline Journal. [1]
Saline Area Social Service (SASS) helps financially challenged families get their children back-to-school ready. You can also help by donating.
Or, if you are facing challenges providing what your school-age children need, you can apply for assistance.
To guide families, school websites are featuring lists of items students need as they enter each grade. For example, a fifth grader at Heritage Elementary School this fall will need the following in addition to any specific items his or her teacher may specify. [2]
- A 4- or 5-subject notebook
- Five two-pocket folders
- College-ruled paper
- A pencil box
- Colored pencils
- No 2 pencils
- Pens (black or blue ink)
- Dry-erase markers
- Sharpies
- Post-It notes
- Earbuds or headphones
- Band-Aids
- Clorox wipes
- Hand sanitizer
- Sealable storage bags
For parents with children in school, it all adds up to more than pocket change. MSN recently reported that, according to Huntington Bank’s “Backpack Index,” average costs for equipping a child to return to school this fall will total just over $1,000 for elementary-school-age children, just under $1,300 for middle schoolers, and nearly $1,700 for high school students. [3]
Tech gear is the category with the fastest-growing costs nationally. In the Saline School District, for example, elementary students are required to have earbuds or headphones for use with the classroom laptops on which much work is done during the school day, and students entering ninth grade must acquire a Chromebook that they will then use through their senior year. This device costs $199 for the 2019-20 year, with financial assistance available by parental application. [4,5]
Saline Area Social Service, the only nonsectarian nonprofit organization assisting the needy in our community, is an important source of support for financially challenged families, children, and seniors, providing assistance to about 350 people each week.
Best known for its food pantry, SASS provides many other important services, with the backpack distribution especially noteworthy at this time of year. SASS currently serves approximately 130 children, and each of them is invited to come to the office in August to select a backpack and fill it with items on the required list for his or her level and school building.
In addition to supplies of many of the items on schools’ required lists, the SASS office can provide a gift card that parents then use to purchase needed shoes, clothes, and other school-related items. Parents then return the receipt to the office to demonstrate that the card was used for school necessities.
Beyond these important first-of-year supplies, students may also apply for support to fund their participation in extracurricular activities such as sports and music lessons. [6,7]
Does your family need assistance with back-to-school requirements? Or would you like to get involved in helping to meet these needs?
Whatever the case, Saline Area Social Service is here for you. Supports for families who qualify for SASS services by having incomes at 185% of the poverty level or below are made possible through the generosity and efforts of businesses, organizations, and individuals.
SASS is entirely supported by donations and volunteer efforts.
To learn more, please visit the SASS website, Facebook page, or call the office. [8]
References
- Saline Area Social Service (home page).
- “2019-20 Heritage Generic Supply List” Saline Area Schools.
- “What Does It Cost to Send a Kid Back to School?” Andrew Lisa (July 31, 2019) MSN.
- Saline Area Schools (home page).
- “Why a Chromebook isn’t the same thing as a budget laptop” Matt Elliott (October 12, 2016) c|net.
- “2019-2020 SHS Clubs & Activities: Website List” Saline Area Schools.
- “Middle School Clubs” Saline Area Schools.
- Saline Area Social Service (Facebook Page).