Shopping event prompts school supply drive

Simone Smith said something she saw last week made her sad enough that she took action.

Smith said she saw a father tell a little girl there was no more money to pay for her school supplies, and she has since started a school supplies drive with her co-workers.

Smith said it happened in the Walmart checkout line about a week ago.

The family in front of her was buying groceries and other items and the school supplies were at the tail end.

Smith remembers the father saying "We're going to have to stop there" by the time the belt had rolled the school supplies to the scanner.

"She said, 'Daddy what about the rest of this stuff?'" Smith said of the little girl. "She was so sad."

If she could go back, Smith said she would buy the items for the girl. Growing up, her family went through some financial troubles, so she said she knows what that little girl may feel like.

"I wish I knew who she was," Smith said.

So now Smith is doing what she can to help out other children who might be like that little girl. Together with her co-workers Angela Twombly, Bobbi Dolphay and Thomas LaFond at Thomas J. LaFond State Farm at 327 Third St., they have started a school supply drive for three elementary schools - Highland Park Early Primary School, Lincoln-McKinley Primary School and Sunnyside Intermediate School.

Twombly said one reason they are focusing on the elementary schools is because it seems that's where the supply lists are the longests and, therefore, more costly.

"You need color pencils, Kleenex, highlighters, crayons, pens, pencils, notebooks, hand sanitizers," she said.

Twombly has a sophomore and a senior as children and she said their supply list pales in comparison to what she's seen elementary schools require for their students at the beginning of the year.

The drive has begun and will continue through September.  People can drop the following items off at the Thomas J. LaFond State Farm office: pencils, markers, crayons, erasers, glue, scissors, pens, paper, notebooks, folders, Kleenex, rulers, highlighters, colored pencils, binders and index cards. They will take anything else people think students may need.

Twombly said how the supplies will be dispersed will depend on how much is gathered.