CSM Staffers Stuff Backpacks for Students
Students in elementary, middle and high schools in Charles County got an extra bit of help with school supplies this year, courtesy of a large group of volunteers from the College of Southern Maryland. The volunteers stuffed backpacks of just about every color and design with pencils, paper, crayons, markers, highlighters, binders, composition books, glue and glue sticks, scissors, rulers, and more.
The project is tackled by the Charles County Children’s Aid Society each year, and executing it takes the support of the community, said Pam Vahle, chair of the organization’s board of directors.
On a recent Friday, several trucks delivered the supplies to a room at CSM’s La Plata Campus, where employees converged and got to work.
“That was great teamwork,” Diane Payne, a mail operations support technician at the college, said as she looked around the room. The volunteers stuffed 1,500 backpacks that day.
Ms. Vahle said the backpacks and supplies were made possible by generosity of several groups: Carmax Foundation gave a $10,000 grant, a grant from Navigant Consulting of Washington, D.C., and a $5,000 donation from the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center medical staff. There also was help from Best Buy’s outreach program, Charles County Sheriff’s Office, McDonald’s, Sacred Heart Church, Edward Jones of La Plata, CSM, Kiwanis Club of Waldorf, Mom’s Club Waldorf West, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco. Charles County Arts Alliance donated 528 filled pencil boxes, and Children’s Aid also accepted donations from members of the community and other local businesses and churches.
Employees at CSM in La Plata have made the event their community service project. Ms. Vahle said the help from CSM has been “wonderful. It’s great to be in this partnership with CSM. It really makes a difference.”
Earle Knapp, an 18-year board member with Children’s Aid Society, said the project grows a little each year.
“I truly appreciate what the college has done and is doing for us,” he said. “I’m not sure we could do this without the college’s help. From loading and unloading the trucks full of supplies, to setting up, to distribution. We’ve done this before, but without the college’s help it’s been a scramble.” This was the 16th year for the backpack project and the fourth year CSM has provided volunteers for the program.
After the backpacks were stuffed with the supplies, they were moved to a larger room and arranged according to school level in preparation for distribution the next day. Families arrived and each child was able to select a backpack.
“The fulfilling part is when the families pick up the backpacks,” said Annie Sutten, lead college event manager at CSM. “The families are so appreciative. Seeing the looks on their faces. That makes the work so worthwhile.” Sutten worked to coordinate the set-up for the delivery and organization of the supplies to pack the backpacks and the distribution on the following day. Other service project organizers were Kim Yellman, CSM’s executive assistant to the president; Heather Zeolla, lead coordinator academic support; and Sharon Buckler, administrative assistant in the president’s office.
Charles County Children’s Aid Society works to improve the quality of life for struggling families with children younger than 18 by providing them with the basic necessities of life including, but not limited to, clothing, food, educational classes, recreational activities and holiday assistance. Children’s Aid has been serving Charles County since 1934.
The nonprofit accepts donations of school supplies year-round. They can be dropped off at the CAS office at 3000 Huntington Circle in Waldorf.
For information about Charles County Children’s Aid Society, visit their website. For information about service projects and volunteer opportunities with nonprofit organizations within Southern Maryland, visit here.
For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.
