Community loads bus with record number of school supplies for Roanoke Valley districts

ROANOKE COUNTY, Virginia. – Not only did the community load the bus, it was overflowing with more school supplies than ever.

Load the Bus had a pivotal 20th anniversary year, raising over $ 50,000 in supplies for area students.

Public schools in Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Salem City and Craig County have all benefited.

More than 50,000 pieces were collected over the three-day weekend in August, according to school officials.

“We have a lot of families who are struggling right now. The last thing we want is for a student to be in a school and not have the tools they need to be successful and confident in their class, ”said Chuck Lionberger, spokesperson for public schools. of Roanoke County.

The City of Roanoke packed a total of 3,360 bags of school supplies, which were distributed during our annual Back to School Extravaganza. The total value of these supplies was $ 20,930.68.

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Of the 3,360 bags, 1,800 were for elementary school students and 1,560 for secondary school students.

“This total does not include donations that we continue to receive, which will be used with the remaining supplies from Extravaganza to restock schools as needed throughout the school year. The total also does not include certain supplies that we received that we did not pack in bags but rather gave directly to the corresponding academic department, such as the rapporteurs for the mathematics courses ”, clarified the communications coordinator Claire Mitzel by email Monday.

Roanoke County schools estimate a retail value of $ 29,648.

Elementary schools in Salem received $ 500 worth of supplies, a spokesperson said. Schools in Craig County have also benefited, Lionberger said.

“We cannot stress enough our gratitude for the support of the community. We want all of our students – and by all, I mean across the Roanoke Valley – to start the year off on the right foot by having the supplies they need, ”added Mitzel.