Drives for school supplies gear up.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

With nearly a month left before school starts, back-to-school shopping may be the furthest thing from kids' minds.

But there's a good chance it's already weighing on parents struggling to make ends meet.

St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, along with the Springfield/Marcola Family Resource Center, will try to ease those worries this month through concurrent school-supply drives in Eugene and Springfield.

St. Vincent de Paul, which held a kickoff event with Mayor Kitty Piercy at the West 18th Avenue Bi-Mart on Friday, hopes to collect 2,000 backpacks to give away, not to mention plenty of binders, notebooks, calculators, scissors, glue, rulers, crayons, colored pencils, No. 2 pencils, ballpoint pens, ruled paper and whatever else might show up on schools' required supply lists.

Last August, the agency gave away 1,700 backpacks and could have used more, community resources coordinator Rebecca Larson said.

"I don't think we could ever get too many backpacks," said Larson, noting that there's nothing she'd love more than to lift the two-per-family limit set last year.

The agency has set up barrels at participating businesses throughout town, but also will happily accept cash or checks.

"We appreciate it, whether people choose to buy those pointy sharp crayons or backpacks themselves, or (give) a monetary donation," Larson said. "The nice thing with monetary donations is if we get a zillion boxes of colored markers and we still need scissors, we can make up that difference."

St. Vincent de Paul will give away all the collected items at 9 a.m. on Aug. 29 at its social service office, 456 Highway 99N. The agency asks that no "early birds" show up, and that parents or students bring some proof that the children are of school age. While the drive targets Eugene-area families, Larson said no one in need will be turned away, while supplies last.

The Springfield/Marcola Family Resource Center has kicked off its supply drive as well, targeting families in its area through similar means. The drive will continue through August, after which families can make an appointment to pick up items at the center, at 1030 G St. The phone number is 744-6769.

The center served more than 400 families last year, said drive coordinator Salli-Jo Osborn.

"I would say that the need definitely is increasing along with everything else, like the rate of increase with regard to rent, the lack of employment, the cost of living going up," she said.

HOW TO HELP

Donations of school supplies can be left in barrels at any of the following locations:

In Eugene: Any Bi-Mart location, Wal-Mart on West 11th Avenue, Capella Market at 2489 Willamette St., any St. Vincent de Paul store or any branch of SELCO Credit Union. SELCO and Washington Mutual also will take cash donations.

In Springfield: Wal-Mart, Bi-Mart, Walgreen Drug Store, Dollar Tree, Rite-Aid or any Washington Mutual.

By mail: In Eugene, checks can be sent to School Supplies, c/o St. Vincent de Paul, P.O. Box 24608, Eugene, OR 97402. In Springfield, send to the Springfield/Marcola Family Resource Center, 1030 G. St., Springfield, OR 97477.