SPOKANE, Wash. –Before the yellow school buses started for the year, the Salvation Army opened the doors of its bright red bus.
Volunteers with the organization stood outside of the Target on Spokane’s South Hill collecting school supplies for children in need.
“We’re asking people to come out and buy some backpacks…to help us out and fill the backpacks with the school supplies so kids can get what they need to succeed in school,” said Joshua Schultz, one of the drive’s volunteers.
The drive is called “Backpacks for Kids,” and its goal is to collect backpacks for 5,000 children around Spokane.
From Wednesday through Sunday, the team collected more than 31 barrells, each holding about 64 gallons of school supplies.
“That’s more than 3,000 items,” Schultz said.
The Salvation Army will gather all of the items and distrubite them at its back to school drive on August 7.
“(The kids) will be able to go in there and to shine bright to know, ‘Hey, I’ve got these school supplies,’” Schultz said.
The drive ended Sunday at 6 p.m., but you can still drop donations in the containers posted at local Fred Meyer stores and at the Salvation Army location at 222 E. Indiana Ave.