Boys & Girls Clubs to save the day with free school supplies

Hope is on the way for parents left in the lurch by Lorain City Schools CEO David Hardy Jr.’s decision to return free school supplies that would have set students up for the year.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Lorain County announced Aug. 22 that supplies Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will donated to the district instead would be distributed at their Back to School Bash, which runs from noon to 3 p.m., Aug. 24, at its Desich Family Campus, 4111 Pearl Road in Lorain.

Will’s office purchased and packed school supplies including pencils, markers, crayons and book bags and donated them to kindergarten through third-grade students in Lorain, Elyria and Clearview school districts.

That plan was upended the day before Lorain Schools were set to start Aug. 20, when the district decided that due to warnings on the packaging of some supplies provided by the prosecutor’s office, because of a California state law, they would not distribute the supplies.

Will sent the districts letters both from himself and the supplier of the school supplies stating that the warnings do not mean that the supplies are toxic.

Elyria Schools have decided to allow the parents themselves to decide whether their child should use the supplies and they will be available at their open house Aug. 26, Will said.

Tony Dimacchia, director of operations for Boys & Girls Clubs of Lorain County, and former member of the Lorain School Board, said he’s glad there is a chance to help those families in need.

“I think that Dennis Will’s office has been incredibly gracious to allow us to do this partnership, and we’re thankful for our families,” Dimacchia said. “I think it’s unfortunate that the school district made the decision they made and I just think they didn’t think about the families and putting the families first and these kids that need supplies.

“Some of these supplies are what teachers come out of their own pockets to pay for their kids in their classrooms. These are supplies that we’re going to be able to produce and give to the classrooms and the teachers so they don’t have to spend their own personal money on that stuff.”

In addition to the school supplies, Dimacchia said the Clubs will feature food and about 20 local organizations will distribute information about the services they provide.

Will said he’s glad the supplies will reach the people who need them.

“We were trying to fulfill a need and this will allow us to accomplish that goal,” he said. “We’re going to get these out to the people who can use them; that was the whole intended purpose.

“My thing is, there’s no reason to let these sit. I want to get them out there and get them to the people who can use them and (Boys & Girls Clubs of Lorain County) is willing to help us do that. So, we greatly appreciate that.”