HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — If you’re a parent getting your child ready to return to school, you probably already know that it’s expensive. According to the National Retail Federation , parents will spend nearly $900 each on school supplies this summer.
17-year-old Chance Toliver is a rising senior at Patrick Henry High School in Hanover County and the founder of One Small Chance, an organization which is currently gathering school supplies for the upcoming school year.
Toliver was raised by a single mom, who gave birth to him while she was in high school. She struggled with mental health challenges during his childhood, so he moved in with his grandmother for high school.
“The day that really made me realize was middle school, the first day of middle school,” he said. “Waking up and going to school without school supplies, I feel like a lot of things are taken for granted.”
The school supplies Toliver gathers will be donated to elementary and middle schools across the county, but he’s not stopping there. He wants to provide cleats to young athletes in need and he’s already thinking about a toy drive for the upcoming holiday season.