SHIM collecting education supplies for needy students
The start of the new school year may be more than a month away, but South Hills Interfaith Ministries is already collecting school supplies for children of low-income area residents.
“We’ve just started our campaign,” said Jim Guffey, executive director of the Bethel Park nonprofit. “We’re dealing with individuals who are working hard to make ends meet.”
For the 4,000 or so South Hills residents that SHIM helps each year, getting help with school supplies is a big relief to some families. According to a report in the Huffington Post, families with school-age children are expected to spend $600 in school supplies for their children.
“It can be a challenge for parents with multi-age kids,” Guffey said.
SHIM is accepting donations of backpacks, notebook paper, markers, pocket folders, three-ring binders, crayons, pens, pencils and anything else a student is expected to need during the school year. Donations will then be divided into age-appropriate groups – kindergarten through college – and placed in backpacks, with the younger children getting crayons and the teenagers getting more notebook paper and markers. Guffey said SHIM will begin handing out the donated backpacks, filled with school supplies, Aug. 6 and 7 at its 5301 Park Ave. location.
“These are our neighbors. SHIM understands the direct needs of these people,” Guffey said. “We are part of the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank, and a screening site for the Dollar Energy Fund. No child should begin the school year unprepared.”
A lot of the poverty Guffey said he sees in the South Hills comes from the break-up of families or from a job loss.
“That is the challenge of suburban poverty,” he said. “People do not want their neighbors to know. But, this is South Hills people helping South Hills neighbors.”
Besides helping with school supplies and food, SHIM has a clothing room for families that qualify for its food pantry program. It also offers financial literacy classes, help with utilities and help finding employment.
“We won’t turn anyone away,” Guffey said. “We can also help people get services where they live. We may be saving you today, but we want you to think about tomorrow.”
SHIM’s Back-to-School Supplies Drive will take place at 5301 Park Ave., Bethel Park, on July 13, July 20 and July 27. For more information, visit www.shim-center.org.