Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 1: It's sunny, but it's not warm, but we're warm here
Speaker 1: in the studio today. We've got our guests here from
Speaker 1: pack to backpacks, and we are underway with our community
Speaker 1: connection and it's brought to you in part by Wesley
Speaker 1: and Kitty College, also Arnold Moore and Knee Camp at
Speaker 1: Funeral Home and Tall Grass Botors. We have Shelley and
Speaker 1: Carol back for more. Are we doing, ladies, We're doing great.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, it's nice to see folks getting out and
Speaker 1: about today. We've got a big to do coming up
Speaker 1: on January twenty fifth. What's going on?
Speaker 2: We have bingo coming up big yep, So January twenty
Speaker 2: fifth at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church. We'll have the doors
Speaker 2: open at five thirty pm and then the games will
Speaker 2: start at six. Tickets are twelve dollars and we'll have
Speaker 2: ten games of bingo plus fifty to fifty games. And
Speaker 2: we'll also have food for and we're gonna have dessert auctions.
Speaker 1: Ooh, dessert auction. There you go. You know this time
Speaker 1: of the year where you kind of need a little dessert,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of fuel the engine a little bit. Now, Carol,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be a lot of fun. Tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about pack the backpacks and how this
Speaker 1: benefits what you're going to be doing.
Speaker 3: Yes, we've been doing this for around twenty four years
Speaker 3: at least I've been involved with it with that long
Speaker 3: and we usually do. We've been in recent years helping
Speaker 3: around twenty five hundred students in Washington County and that
Speaker 3: goes from head start to twelfth grade. So it's all
Speaker 3: the schools in Washington County plus Osh Hills and Bowering
Speaker 3: which are feeder schools to Washington County. So and we
Speaker 3: supply what the teacher needs and in the backpack, oh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know they'll tell you to give you a
Speaker 1: little slip of paper. You know, this is what you
Speaker 1: need to start school. And some bambilings are going yep
Speaker 1: on it. Some are like going, well, wait a second,
Speaker 1: and I've been in that family. Wait a second. So
Speaker 1: this is a great program.
Speaker 3: We like all the students to start out like everyone else.
Speaker 3: You know, they have their backpack with all the supplies,
Speaker 3: and the teachers really appreciate and they don't have to
Speaker 3: buy the supplies.
Speaker 2: Sure, and the unique thing about us is that we
Speaker 2: feel each backpack based on the school and the grade
Speaker 2: that the kid is in, and that way they're getting
Speaker 2: the supplies needed exactly for their classes.
Speaker 1: So, Shelly, you guys and gals have this down to
Speaker 1: a science. Now, Yes, I mean it's pretty much plug
Speaker 1: and play, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Definitely. We're a well oiled machine.
Speaker 1: And so when you get ready to start loading up
Speaker 1: the backpacks, everybody knows their job. And also new volunteers
Speaker 1: are quickly trained that year.
Speaker 3: That's right, and this is a year round project.
Speaker 1: It's not just you know, the up in August and
Speaker 1: let's do it now.
Speaker 3: We buy supplies all year round. Lounge for the best spy,
Speaker 3: So we really do. We're really careful with our money.
Speaker 1: Well that's a good thing to know, because you know,
Speaker 1: when folks make donations, they want to know, you know,
Speaker 1: how much is that. Well, there's no administrative cost. It
Speaker 1: goes straight back to the kids, exactly.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 1: Nobody makes a penny doing this.
Speaker 3: We're working, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: We're working for love. That's what we're working for. And now,
Speaker 1: if somebody wants to be a volunteer for a Washington
Speaker 1: County school, Supply Drive aka back to Backpacks. How do
Speaker 1: we go about that?
Speaker 2: They can message us on our Facebook page which is
Speaker 2: under Washington County School Supply Drive, or they can message
Speaker 2: us on our website which is pack Backpacks dot org.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, And when it comes to donations, I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk to Carol because she's the treasure.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: If somebody's got a thousand dollars bill it is itching
Speaker 1: to get rid of. Can they do that to your cause?
Speaker 1: I meant they could.
Speaker 3: If they want to send a check, they can send
Speaker 3: it to our PO box which is here in Bartosfield.
Speaker 3: It's two zero three one Post office box. And you
Speaker 3: can go to our website which is the Pack the
Speaker 3: Backpacks with an s dot org. And you can donate
Speaker 3: on online online too, or you can get our the
Speaker 3: address and mail us to check.
Speaker 1: Well. That's a wonderful deal. It makes it pretty easy.
Speaker 1: And of course, like you say, you're out shopping year
Speaker 1: round looking for the best bargains in order to get
Speaker 1: those backpacks filled. Now, let's get back to the fun
Speaker 1: part of fundraising, which is the bingo, and that is
Speaker 1: coming up Saturday, January twenty fifth at Saint Luke's Episcopal
Speaker 1: Church can open up the doors at five point thirty,
Speaker 1: So our bay get cozy companies, swap outies and then
Speaker 1: get started at six o'clock in Earnest. Now this is
Speaker 1: a lot of fun, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Definitely we'll have food for sale. We're gonna have fruit
Speaker 2: of chili pies from Prices meat Market, and then we'll
Speaker 2: have a popcorn and baked goods for sale.
Speaker 1: Now anything kind of special with the bingo are we
Speaker 1: gonna have some special games.
Speaker 2: We'll have fifty to fifty games, and then your ticket
Speaker 2: will get you the ten core games that we normally have,
Speaker 2: and then we'll have a blackout game at the end
Speaker 2: for a grand prize.
Speaker 1: Now this is this is something that Susie does in
Speaker 1: our house. She does all that. She'll you come home,
Speaker 1: go whoo, or she said, oh well we had a
Speaker 1: good time. Yeah exactly, But never fails. If there's a game,
Speaker 1: she's there and our seventeen year old gets a kick
Speaker 1: out of just watching. Yes, I get the feeling that
Speaker 1: she's gonna get mama's jones for bingo before too long.
Speaker 1: But it's always it's always a lot of fun in
Speaker 1: our house, and we are active participants. You know, they
Speaker 1: go out and do the fun. I make sure that
Speaker 1: the house doesn't get wrong. There you good.
Speaker 3: And I don't know what prices will have because Shelley's
Speaker 3: in charge of the prizes. Oh, so for each game,
Speaker 3: you will get a little.
Speaker 2: Like a little card, a little raster we'll have We're
Speaker 2: gonna have ten baskets and and ten gift cards to
Speaker 2: local businesses.
Speaker 1: Wonderful. That's a great way to kind of spread it
Speaker 1: all around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we like to support our community with our prizes.
Speaker 2: So so that way you can come back and find
Speaker 2: a local place you might not have been to yet.
Speaker 1: That's a great idea. And they get to kind of
Speaker 1: share in all this exactly. My goodness, sanks. So once
Speaker 1: again Washington County School supply Drive. And it's one of
Speaker 1: those things where you guys have been synonymously known as
Speaker 1: the backpacks. Yeah, but put it all together, it's a
Speaker 1: wonderful thing. Now you're an educator, and you know it's
Speaker 1: got to do a teacher's heart good to see a kid.
Speaker 1: You might be kind of holding your breath saying, you know,
Speaker 1: I know the family is struggling, but when they show up,
Speaker 1: it's like Oh, thank goodness, they're all set, ready to
Speaker 1: go to ready to learn, and not worrying about things.
Speaker 3: Now, several years ago, we had a teacher come and
Speaker 3: tell us that that was the first year where everybody
Speaker 3: had supplies. Oh wow, And we have we have two
Speaker 3: teachers on our board, and we have lots of teachers
Speaker 3: that come and volunteer too.
Speaker 2: Say, really, I've got one teacher at Dewey Schools and
Speaker 2: one at Kenney Valley.
Speaker 1: And of course they can kind of give you maybe
Speaker 1: your heads up on what's coming up.
Speaker 3: They do, and they gave us kind of hints on supplies,
Speaker 3: and especially for the high school, there's what they need, because.
Speaker 1: You know, anymore, I think I'd be lost if I
Speaker 1: went back to high school at this day and age.
Speaker 1: I just don't think that that would work. I'm glad
Speaker 1: I went to school when I went to school, because
Speaker 1: I see some of the stuff that our senior comes
Speaker 1: home with, and I'm okay, all right, I have to
Speaker 1: take a plause. It's not that I feel silly or anything.
Speaker 1: It just that seems like I remember that like second
Speaker 1: year in college, and then you know, they're zooming up
Speaker 1: and they're doing a lot of things that you know,
Speaker 1: weren't doing back then. But anyway, it's great and it
Speaker 1: all takes away that stigma too.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, we we try to make sure that when
Speaker 2: you're applying for backpacks, but it's more anonymous when you're
Speaker 2: getting your backpacks. We don't have the kids that may
Speaker 2: volunteer with packing backpacks put the names on the backpack,
Speaker 2: so that way when they're picking them up, they still
Speaker 2: have that feeling of kind of anominum anonymity. I can't
Speaker 2: say that word, but then they can they can start
Speaker 2: the school year with their supplies ready to go and
Speaker 2: they don't feel like they're singled out by not having
Speaker 2: stuff ready to be, you know, participating in class.
Speaker 1: I think I saw you at that celebrate giving thing
Speaker 1: that was down at the end. Yes, you guys had fun.
Speaker 3: We participate in that is.
Speaker 1: It was great. You had the little bus there to
Speaker 1: stop and I hope it got it did It looked
Speaker 1: like it was well on its way when I put
Speaker 1: something in, so that that was a really neat little
Speaker 1: thing you did.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we really appreciate Kawana's then a big support for us, uh.
Speaker 1: Huh, and that is really something cool. So once again
Speaker 1: in Saturday, January the twenty fifth, twenty fifth, or being silly,
Speaker 1: Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, if they're at five thirty gets
Speaker 1: your spot, their base got there's lucky spot. I've known
Speaker 1: that there's a little bit of that going on there too.
Speaker 1: But thirties when the door is open and the games
Speaker 1: begin and earnest at six and the ticket's throwing twelve dollars,
Speaker 1: only twelve dollars. This is a bargain, yep.
Speaker 2: And we're a little different from normal or from other
Speaker 2: beingos in that we don't charge a different price at
Speaker 2: the door, So you can either buy ahead or at
Speaker 2: the door, either will be the same price.
Speaker 1: So we can do that online to the Facebook.
Speaker 2: Message us on Facebook, get someone in touch with you,
Speaker 2: or if you know any of our board members can
Speaker 2: sell tickets to them, or they can just buy them.
Speaker 1: At the door, right easy.
Speaker 3: And I wanted to say, if you're new to town,
Speaker 3: Saint Luke's is kind of downtown at eighth and Dewey.
Speaker 1: Yes it is. It is. It's really easy to find,
Speaker 1: so make sure that you get there and plenty of time,
Speaker 1: and make sure that you come a little hungry too,
Speaker 1: because freedo pies are just calling my name right.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's great, great for this kind of weather.
Speaker 1: Yes, it is an electric carbuation. Baby, there you go.
Speaker 1: So once again this all goes to Washington County School Supply,
Speaker 1: also known as Back the Pack Packs. Carol Shelley, thank
Speaker 1: you both for being in here today. Thanks for braving
Speaker 1: the cold. Goodness you had to climb up Mount k
Speaker 1: one to get here. You know that staircases outdoors. People
Speaker 1: don't understand that, but that just kind of whistles right
Speaker 1: to you if there's a wind. God bless you both.
Speaker 1: Thanks for being here and folks, well, you can meet
Speaker 1: them up on Saturday, the twenty fifth of Saint Lukes