On Wednesday, Aug. 4, the community will begin preparing for the 2021-2022 school year with the annual Ingles Tools for Schools Supply Drive. Tens of thousands of students will be returning to schools, some for the first time in over a year, across the mountains.
The Ingles Tools for Schools Supply Drive to benefit Eblen Charities, will again welcome partners Asheville Citizen-Times, WLOS-TV, and iHeart Radio. Event sponsors also include Great Beginnings Pediatric Dentistry and Great Smiles Orthodontics and Two Men and a Truck. This drive brings the community together to stand beside the students, teachers, school administration, staff, and parents in helping make sure that students who cannot afford the proper school supplies will have what they need for a successful school year.
Anyone who makes a donation, via the drive, on-line or through text to give, will be entered into a drawing for 6 months of free groceries (26-$100 gift cards) thanks to Ingles Markets.
Some of the items needed are:
Book bags, Earbuds, Wide/College Ruled Paper, Composition Notebooks, Mechanical Pencils, Pens: black, blue and red, Colored Pencils, Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Pencil Boxes, Markers, Glue Sticks/Glue, Highlighters, 3 Ring Binders, Index Cards, Folders, Crayons, Erasers, Scissors, Graph Paper, Dividers and more.
How you can help:
The Ingles Tools for Schools Supply Drive will be collecting school supplies at the Ingles Market at 29 Tunnel Road (across from Outback), as well as have collection carts inside Ingles Markets stores. Monetary donations can be made using your cellphone by texting STUDENT to 345345 or online at www.eblencharities.org. If you or your company or organization would like to join us in providing needed school supplies to the children we serve, please contact Amanda Putnam at [email protected].
How you can receive assistance:
The school supplies will be distributed via online signups on the Eblen Charities website. The distribution will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 18, at the Westgate Shopping Center. The Ingles Vaccination Project and Buncombe County Health Department will be on site at the distribution to help families who are in need of required student immunizations or kindergarten physicals. Families can sign up via the signup link when registering their children for schools supplies.