FISH distributes school backpacks
Once again this year, about 300 children in the Pennridge School District whose families would have difficulty providing new backpacks and school supplies for the start of the school year are going back to class with full backpacks received through Pennridge FISH (Fellowship in Serving Humanity).
“Every child wants a backpack when they go to school and they don’t want to get there not having supplies,” said Carol Herstine, the coordinator for the FISH backpack distribution and a teacher at Pennridge Central Middle School.
Guidance counselors i n the school district have backpacks that can be given to students in need, but some students may be embarrassed to have to go in and say they don’t have a school bag, Herstine said.
“It’s nice that they can come with one,” she said, “and it’s nice to have the variety of bags that they can select a bag that they like.” The students receiving the backpacks are all from families that are FISH clients. Other FISH services include a food pantry and clothing outlet.
As of the morning before this year’s Aug. 19 backpack distribution, 295 children had been registered to receive backpacks, Herstine said. That’s about the same number as in other recent years, she said.
Lists of supply items for the backpacks included items such as pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, crayons, composition books, notebook paper,
“Every child wants a backpack when they go to school and they don’t want to get there not having supplies.” — Carol Herstine, the coordinator for the FISH backpack distribution and a teacher at Pennridge Central Middle School
notebooks, binders, glue sticks, rulers, blunt tip scissors, markers, erasers, highlighters, thumb drives, pencil cases and post it notes.
The bags don’t all have the exact same supplies, but are comparable, Herstine said. Bags prepared for secondary grade students are different than ones for elementary students, she said, giving examples such as elementary ones having crayons and wide ruled paper, while the secondary grade ones have markers and college ruled spacing.
All the distributed items are donated.
“People are wonderful,” Herstine said. “That’s what makes it work because without the donations, we would not have a program.”
Scouting groups, churches and yoga classes are some of the examples of groups that donate, she said. Pennridge Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Bucks County also help collect items.
“Bible schools often do collections,” Herstine said. “Restaurants will have a box at their front door for people to make contributions.”
Groups of volunteers, including a softball team and a women’s club, helped pack up the bags, she said.
In most cases, the items for the bags are donated and the bags are packed at FISH, she said, but there are also times when groups such as Bible schools gather the materials and pack the bags.
All the school supplies in the backpacks are new, but there are also additional items at the distribution, such as used binders, that the recipients can also take, she said.