News : Thanks to all who donated to back-to-school donation efforts

Thanks to the generosity of many in our community, our recent school supply drive was able to collect enough to provide 196 Vinton-Shellsburg Preschool-12th grade students with the supplies they will need to start the school year!
There were items collected by area churches (Bethlehem Lutheran, Blessed Hope, Harvest Christian, Wesley United Methodist, Stewart Memorial United Methodist, Vinton Presbyterian, First Christian, Garrison United Methodist) and items were also put into collection boxes by community members at Fareway, Shopko, LaGrange Pharmacy and the VU Offices.
We had almost $2000 in cash donated to cover the cost of the supplies we needed to purchase. Bob Koenigsfeld from Custom Millwork said his employees collected funds, plus the company put in a donation, for a total of $320, which was enough to purchase supplies for 8 students. Virginia Gay Hospital employees collected $135. The ISU extension office dropped off a large tub of supplies that our staff was thrilled to get, and we had supplies donated from the Vinton Legion Auxiliary #57. In addition to all of these donations, we had cash and supplies donated by several individuals and families. THANK YOU to all of these organizations and to everyone who helped us out and volunteered on the days of the distributions. We had volunteers from several churches, the school district and also volunteers from Clickstop that helped our families and students at the distribution so they could get the supplies they needed.
We’d also like to thank MonkeyTown for ordering our supplies in bulk so we could keep the cost down and for all of their work in helping to organize the supply drive. Another big thank you goes to Clickstop Cares in Urbana for organizing and hosting the event at their warehouse so families could also “shop” for household items, toiletries and clothing items that they need for their students to start school.
We are lucky to have such generous people in the community willing to help our students!