Dobytown Kiwanis packed over 700 backpacks last night at Kenwood Elementary.
On Monday, about 113 volunteers came out to assist in the Dobytown Kiwanis’s Annual Back-to-School Backpack project. Volunteers included those from the United Way of the Kearney Area Board, Kiwanians, and others the heard about the event.
About 750 backpacks were packed with school supplies for children whose families requested support.
In addition to the help from volunteers, Chairperson Nancy Stritt said that the financial support from the community has also helped offset the cost. “It was good year, we had lots of cash donations, and that helps offset the expense of it. Each backpack cost us about $5 and then the contents of it are another $10 to $15 dollars. So, it takes a lot of cash to do it.”
On Tuesday volunteers will deliver the backpacks to area schools that will distribute them to students at the beginning of the school year. The Dobytown Kiwanis backpack project has supplied over 18,000 free backpacks with school supplies since the project’s inception in the early 1990s.
