Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 1: It is time now for our community connection. Right here,
Speaker 1: Rod k One, the one you trust, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Arnold Moore and Nie Camp at funeral home. Packed
Speaker 1: the backpacks and ladies, we are getting rolling you never
Speaker 1: stop though, we'll get to that moment. We have Debbie
Speaker 1: and Shelley in here with us. First of all, welcome,
Speaker 1: thank you.
Speaker 2: Hi.
Speaker 1: Well, you know everybody's saying, oh my goodness, sakes, school
Speaker 1: just got out a couple of weeks ago. Well, guess
Speaker 1: what school starts back in a few weeks too? Not
Speaker 1: all that long abou in summer? And your work is
Speaker 1: really three hundred and sixty five days a year, yes
Speaker 1: it is. Yeah, tell us a little bit about what's
Speaker 1: going on.
Speaker 3: Well, we have been accumulating a cuplies all year long.
Speaker 3: Wherever we can find a deal. We are buying so
Speaker 3: that we're prepared for what is coming. It would be
Speaker 3: impossible for us to buy everything we need for our
Speaker 3: sprint weekend and packing if we didn't do it all
Speaker 3: year round.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, are you cashing in on some big
Speaker 1: schools out sales?
Speaker 3: We're trying.
Speaker 2: Usually our biggest sales are right around August when school
Speaker 2: comes back. That's when they have the biggest sales. But
Speaker 2: we are still going around and hitting any discounts that
Speaker 2: are around and looking for any clearance items to make
Speaker 2: sure that we can stretch our dollars as much as possible.
Speaker 4: Yet to be pretty keen shoppers after a while, don't you?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: Working on is you string budget generosity of others? And
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, can we get this done? How many
Speaker 1: kids are helped by this?
Speaker 2: We hope about twenty five hundred kids each year, which
Speaker 2: is actually about thirty percent of the kids in Washington County.
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised. Yeah, and that's the entire county. That's
Speaker 1: just not bartablle. We want to clear that up for everybody, right.
Speaker 3: Right all the way from coopan Caney Valley. I'll have
Speaker 3: the whole county and we do them all, even including
Speaker 3: the private schools.
Speaker 1: Well, very good, very good. We got a fundraiser coming
Speaker 1: up on the twenty fourth. What's that all about.
Speaker 2: We're going to have where you can go and eat
Speaker 2: at Arby's. It's an all day fundraiser. You just need
Speaker 2: to let them know that you are there for pack
Speaker 2: the backpacks, or you can bring in a copy of
Speaker 2: our flyer. We'll have it on our website and on
Speaker 2: Facebook and just let them know that you're here for
Speaker 2: the fundraiser and we'll get I think, yeah, we'll get
Speaker 2: a portion of.
Speaker 4: The proceeds for that. All I have to do is
Speaker 4: go eat lunch.
Speaker 2: Yep, nice and easy.
Speaker 4: Yep. I do it every day.
Speaker 2: And that's going to be on June twenty fourth.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's going to be great. You can even
Speaker 1: do that at the drive thro. You're telling me you
Speaker 1: got the you know you're doing that as well.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness sakes, what a delicious way to raise funds.
Speaker 4: Huh exactly, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Now, well, when we talk about you mentioned sprint week,
Speaker 1: I think we know what that is.
Speaker 3: Yes, that is when we pack all the packs in
Speaker 3: about a three day period. We do all of them
Speaker 3: from pre or from head start all the way up
Speaker 3: to high school with every school, and we match each
Speaker 3: child with the school and grade that they are going
Speaker 3: to be attending in the fall.
Speaker 4: This is a well oiled machine.
Speaker 2: Right, definitely.
Speaker 3: Well, we've been doing it for over twenty years.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, you got a system in place, you got Yeah,
Speaker 1: everybody knows what's going.
Speaker 3: On, right. We tweak it. We tweak it all the time.
Speaker 1: Now I understand that sometimes some of the new volunteers
Speaker 1: will take a look at that and they just go,
Speaker 1: my gosh, they're kind of taking a back on that.
Speaker 1: And then the next thing, you know, within a couple
Speaker 1: of hours, they're just flying right there with the veterans,
Speaker 1: aren't they right.
Speaker 2: Definitely, yep.
Speaker 3: We're trying to make it easy peasy.
Speaker 4: Well, there you go.
Speaker 1: We got a lot of backpacks here. I mean you
Speaker 1: say you normally get you said thirty percent?
Speaker 3: Does that twenty five hundred?
Speaker 1: It's a lot of pack it it is, yes, lots
Speaker 1: of number two pencils, definitely. Oh my goodness sakes. So
Speaker 1: this is going to be a great We have applications
Speaker 1: open next week, but it's open for a month.
Speaker 4: Tele telework.
Speaker 2: It's open from June fifteenth to July fifteenth, okay, And
Speaker 2: you can go online, so you can go to Pack
Speaker 2: the Backpacks dot org and apply online, or you can
Speaker 2: go in person to Mary Martha Agape or Concern and
Speaker 2: we have specific dates that will be at each place,
Speaker 2: so you can find that information on our website or
Speaker 2: on Facebook.
Speaker 4: This is to apply for a backpack for your child.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, you guys are just all over the place,
Speaker 1: aren't you.
Speaker 4: We tried as busy as BB's in a box, you know, yes,
Speaker 4: moving around.
Speaker 2: Well, we know how expensive school supplies are right now,
Speaker 2: so we want to help those that really need help
Speaker 2: providing that for their kids.
Speaker 1: That's good, you know, it's good on you, and it's
Speaker 1: also good for the soul when you guys come together
Speaker 1: kind of just knuckle down.
Speaker 4: And get that sprint week taking care of it. That's
Speaker 4: where the payoff is, isn't it exactly?
Speaker 3: So we'll be at Concern on Mondays and Agape on Fridays. Okay,
Speaker 3: So the Mary Martha ones are we're trying to do
Speaker 3: not people don't go there every week, so we're trying
Speaker 3: to do different days on different weeks, and that's why
Speaker 3: it's important to go to the website and get the
Speaker 3: specific days. We'll be there one times.
Speaker 1: All right, sounds good, So once again, just follow your
Speaker 1: Facebook page, follow your website for more information on that, correct,
Speaker 1: and we'll get everybody applied it needs to know about
Speaker 1: this and get them into the system, so to speak,
Speaker 1: and don't forget for June twenty fourth. Bring your appetite,
Speaker 1: bring your dollars, bring your flyers, and remember to tell
Speaker 1: the folks, hey, you know I'm out here with the
Speaker 1: backpack deal, okay, yeah, and then enjoy.
Speaker 4: A sandwich or three, and like, I love those.
Speaker 1: Fries calling my name right now.
Speaker 4: So you really know how to get folks attention.
Speaker 3: Now, we try, we try, we do.
Speaker 4: This is great.
Speaker 1: You know, when I think back in the time when
Speaker 1: I was in school, which would have been the nineteen sixties,
Speaker 1: things were a.
Speaker 4: Little bit different. Then.
Speaker 1: Nobody really said anything if you were kind of having
Speaker 1: hard luck. But that kind of changed somehow in the
Speaker 1: eighties and it started to become teasing and old bullying.
Speaker 1: In the nineties, I saw that progression.
Speaker 4: I thought that was just awful.
Speaker 1: You know, you try to help somebody else out, you
Speaker 1: know somebody didn't there, you go on the down low,
Speaker 1: keep it quiet. Nobody got embarrassed. Well, now we can't
Speaker 1: really expect that from one another. And this is where
Speaker 1: this comes in. Every child comes prepared, ready to learn.
Speaker 1: Every teacher has that off their worry list. Are these
Speaker 1: children ready to go? How much do I have to
Speaker 1: go into the closet out of my own funds to
Speaker 1: make sure everybody's ready to learn exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we take pride in the fact that we not
Speaker 2: only are helping our kids, but helping the teachers not
Speaker 2: feel that burden as well, because school supplies are expensive
Speaker 2: for them too.
Speaker 4: Oh okay, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1: They you know, they got their own business that they
Speaker 1: got to take care of, and you know, it breaks
Speaker 1: their hearts. The teachers, it really breaks their hearts when
Speaker 1: they see a child coming in just not ready to go.
Speaker 1: One of the things I do remember there was a
Speaker 1: little snobbery going on back then. This happened in the seventies.
Speaker 1: The trapper keeper came out, dude, you're in high cotton
Speaker 1: with that. I just got a regular Yeah. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: and but you know, you got the basics, you got everything.
Speaker 4: You're going, you're going, you're making it happen.
Speaker 3: It's true. And we really want to express our thanks
Speaker 3: to all of the people that have been supporting us
Speaker 3: through the years. And this year we have a group
Speaker 3: of churches that have signed up to do the product
Speaker 3: of the month. Oh and so we don't have to
Speaker 3: spend our own money to buy the things. They are
Speaker 3: donating something every month that's nice of them. So we
Speaker 3: had just recently we did the little handheld calculators. We
Speaker 3: needed like, you know, almost three hundred of those, and
Speaker 3: we came up with one hundred and sixty eight from
Speaker 3: the churches. Wow, that we did not have to buy. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so we are really appreciative for all the people that
Speaker 3: either give funds to us or give something in kind
Speaker 3: that we have told them that we really really need.
Speaker 3: And then of course we have two really special sponsors,
Speaker 3: and one of them is Saint Luke's. They provide the
Speaker 3: facility for us to do the handing and packing. They
Speaker 3: give us kind of full reign of their of their
Speaker 3: downstairs hall and we're going to move in there on
Speaker 3: Saturday this week. So they have been such a great
Speaker 3: support for us through the years. And then the other
Speaker 3: one is Roger State University r s U. They are
Speaker 3: helping us to have the place to store all of
Speaker 3: the stuff that we're accumulating during the year and and
Speaker 3: and help us with that, and it's it's a great
Speaker 3: it's a great pleasure to work with them.
Speaker 4: Definitely, Ladies make friends.
Speaker 1: Well, it's easy when you're helping the kids.
Speaker 4: Everybody wants to do the part, you know, that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's amazing how this all comes together.
Speaker 4: And sometimes you know, we hear pack the backpacks. Well
Speaker 4: they're giving the kids backpack.
Speaker 1: Nobody really knows how that comes to fruition and how
Speaker 1: much time and love and.
Speaker 4: Effort that takes.
Speaker 1: And thank you very much on behalf of every kid
Speaker 1: and every worry parent.
Speaker 3: We're very happy to help.
Speaker 4: Well, yes, I can tell you guys kind of glow
Speaker 4: when you come in here talking about.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, but I can tell you're in your happy place,
Speaker 1: you know, when you talk about how this all works.
Speaker 1: Nobody goes into the school and it's our face. They
Speaker 1: kids don't know the difference. They just know that they
Speaker 1: got a backpack and they're going to school. That's really
Speaker 1: what they should know. That's all they need to know, exactly.
Speaker 1: My goodness sakes, Well, you're doing great work here. And
Speaker 1: once again, what's the website.
Speaker 4: We can do it too.
Speaker 3: It's www dot pack the Backpacks dot org org.
Speaker 4: They've got to remember that.
Speaker 2: And Facebook, it's Washington County School Supply Drive. It's a
Speaker 2: little different, but that's our long name.
Speaker 4: I understand.
Speaker 1: I understand that that was the first thing I learned
Speaker 1: when I started interviewing the folks from pack to backpack.
Speaker 4: So got two names, but they're all very very important.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to thank you both for coming in today.
Speaker 4: Is there anything I might have missed?
Speaker 2: One thing? When you're doing your applications, if you have
Speaker 2: multiple guardians for your kid, try and coordinate with everybody
Speaker 2: to make sure only one application gets put in because
Speaker 2: we do get duplicate applications sometimes and it just makes
Speaker 2: sure that we don't accidentally delete anyone or that we
Speaker 2: make duplicates. It helps us make sure that we're getting
Speaker 2: the right amount of backpacks.
Speaker 1: All right, sounds good. Thank you, ladies. I really appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming by today.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having us
Speaker 4: Alrighty, folks, you've been watching and listening to