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United Way Is Giving Out Free Backpacks

08.03.2020 By: Megan James

United Way Is Giving Out Free Backpacks

Do your kids need school supplies this fall?

Drop by one of four locations in Addison County next week to pick up backpacks filled with supplies for the school year — for free.

Each year United Way of Addison County stuffs some 400 backpacks with pens, pencils, notebooks, binders and other supplies and distributes them to families in need. They call it Stuff the Bus.

This year the backpacks also include some pandemic necessities: hand sanitizer donated by Vermont Soap, and child-size masks sewed by volunteers at the Hannaford Career Center Makery. The bags also include Bee’s Wrap for packing up lunches and snacks.

This is a zero-barrier program. In other words, you don’t have to qualify for free or reduced lunches or any other assistance program in order to get a backpack. You just show up, pick out a backpack and take it home. All the bags look different, too, so that kids won’t be stigmatized for having “the free backpack.”

According to Linnea Oosterman at United Way, the backpacks will be available by next Wednesday, August 12, at the following locations:

Bristol Community Food Shelf (St. Ambrose Catholic Church)
11 School Street, Bristol

CVOEO (Addison Community Action)
54 Creek Road (Ste. A), Middlebury

HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects)
282 Boardman Street, Middlebury

Vergennes Community Food Shelf (Congregational Church of Vergennes)
30 South Water Street, Vergennes

If you can’t make it to one of those places, email Linnea and she can help. Bags will be available through the beginning of the school year.

United Way Is Giving Out Free Backpacks

Here’s some of what you’ll find inside the backpacks.

Want to contribute to this effort? Donations help cover the cost of the supplies.

Or, you could help make the child-size masks at the Makery during socially distanced Sewing Labs on Aug. 6 and Aug. 13. The Makery will provide the sewing machines, materials and patterns. Register here for workshop 1, Aug. 6; and here for workshop 2, on Aug. 13.

The Makery is also accepting fabric donations.

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Comments

  1. Aline Pettit says

    08.04.2020 at 1:52 pm

    Would prefer to donate money to help fill in gaps where needed rather than specific items. To whom would I make out the check and where would I send it?

  2. Megan James says

    08.05.2020 at 10:05 am

    Hi Aline! You can make a donation directly to the program here: https://unitedwayaddisoncounty.networkforgood.com/projects/104377-2020-21-stuff-the-bus

    If you have any questions, Linnea Oosterman at United Way can answer them: [email protected]

Upcoming Events

Dec
1
Fri
5:00 pm Bristol Chocolate Walk @ Downtown Bristol
Bristol Chocolate Walk @ Downtown Bristol
Dec 1 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Bristol’s Annual Chocolate Walk is back! Spend your afternoon and evening browsing stores, nibbling on a delicious chocolate treat (or two or three), and getting your holiday shopping on.
7:00 pm ‘A Christmas Carol’ @ Town Hall Theater
‘A Christmas Carol’ @ Town Hall Theater
Dec 1 @ 7:00 pm
We all know and love Dickens’ famous story A Christmas Carol.  MACo proudly presents our original adaptation, true to the novella, which deftly integrates Dickens’ witty, pointed, and socially conscious narrative with the heartwarming and familiar [...]
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Very Merry Middlebury @ Downtown Middlebury
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Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus inside Town Hall Theater from 9-11 a.m.; take a horse and wagon ride through downtown (9-11 a.m.); get hot cocoa with all the fixins; visit the Sheldon Museum to see [...]
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Vergennes Saturday Playgroup @ Vergennes Congregational Church
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Art on the Trail @ Bristol Trail Network
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As Artist-in-Residence on the Bristol Trail Network, artist and scientific illustrator Charon Henning is offering free monthly nature observation and art journaling classes on different sections of the Bristol Trail Network each month, from June [...]
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Sheldon Museum Holiday Open House @ Sheldon Museum
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Admission to the museum is free, and the model trains will be running all day. The annual holiday trees and wreaths raffle will be on view as well as other festive activities throughout the day.
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Vergennes Holiday Stroll @ Downtown Vergennes
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A typical schedule of events throughout the Little City at this annual holiday event includes breakfast with Santa at Vergennes Union High School; photos with Santa and other activities at the Vergennes Opera House; music, [...]
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Bixby Young Writers Club @ Bixby Library
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The Young Writers Club is held the first Saturday of the month in the Bixby’s Vermont Room. We will work on fun and informal writing activities. This program is recommended for elementary school-aged children.
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Homeward Bound Holiday Open House @ Homeward Bound
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In addition to being an opportunity to bid farewell to the animal shelter’s fearless leader of 10+ years, Jess Danyow, you can partake in refreshments, visit shelter animals, browse stocking stuffers, and more. You’ll be [...]
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