Donors to the Town of Palm Beach United Way’s 2024 school supplies drive gave nearly $15,000 and almost 17,000 individual school supply items to this year’s effort, the charity said.
The 12th annual drive, which benefits needy Palm Beach County children for the 2024-25 school year, was held from July 28 to Aug. 11.
“So many of our supporters have children and grandchildren, and know how important it is for kids to have school supplies,” said Richard Rothschild, the United Way’s board chair, in a prepared statement. “Hundreds of local underprivileged kids depend on our community to help with their educational supplies. We are immensely grateful for the outpouring of support for this year’s drive.”
All told, the school supplies drive collected $14,698, United Way officials said. Also collected were 16,869 individual items including pencils, pens, crayons, markers, notebooks, erasers, backpacks, folders and binders.
Beneficiaries of the supplies included students at Lake Worth Middle School, a Title I school at which the majority of students receive free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch. Distributions also went to youths served by United Way partner agencies including Project LIFT, Vita Nova and the YWCA of Palm Beach County.