Businesses Can Help Give Low Income Children School Supplies | Business

United Way of Olmsted County is at 30% of their goal in recruiting Drive and Drop Site Partners for Running Start for School, a community impact initiative which provides low incomes students in Olmsted County with free school supplies. United Way is hoping to have the help of 120 local businesses and organizations participating as Drive and Drop partners and holding their own school supply collection drive.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

Businesses may hold exclusive drives among their employees or host a public drop site for customers and other community members to donate. Many organizations choose to hold their collections throughout the month of July and into early August. Collection officially ends August 10th, and all Drive and Drop Site partners must have their supplies dropped off at the United Way building by 5:00pm. Last year, approximately 46,291 school supplies were donated through local Drive and Drop Site partners.

Registering to become a Drive and Drop Site is simple. The registration link can be found on the Running Start for School Web page, www.uwolmsted.org/runninstart, and click on “Drive and Drop Partners.” The form takes about two minutes to fill out. An organization does not have to start collecting supplies the day they fill out the form; they may choose when they would like to start the drive. The next step after filling out the form is to stop by the United Way to pick up a barrel and a poster (if needed). Once the barrels and posters are all set up, promotion is key to a successful collection drive. Flyers are available for download on the Running Start Web page, and United Way is happy to work with partners to discuss ways to promote campaigns.