Supplying the Demand

Shopping for school supplies these days can be as tough as the mystery meat in the cafeteria.

Not only are parents forced into the mosh pit that is the school supply isle at the local big-box store in August, but they are forced to do so while squinting at a crappy photocopy of a school supplies list while also suffering a jealousy attack over the goodies available to kids today that they could have only fantasized about sporting on their first days of school.

Even so, the prospect of gathering the tools to head back to the classroom could be worse than serving as a witness to a collision of a Target shopping cart commandeered by a harried mother and the funny bone of a homeroom mother. For sure, these days of 9.5 percent unemployment here in the U.S. aren't doing much for anyones back-to-school budget. Thanks to the fact that the contents of our wallets are being stretched to fulfill rising food and medical costs, there's even less to spend on pencils, erasers and notebook paper.

If back-to-school spending is expected to decline even 7.5 percent under last year drop, the cost of being too cool for school should still top $47 billion this year in U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. That adds up to about $550 for families with school-aged children and even more for families putting kids through college at $600 or so. That's no chump change, for sure -- heck, it's practically a stimulus check's worth of dough that would be much more fun to spend on giant TVs and itty, bitty MP3 players than sweater vests, shiny new prescription eyeglasses and glue sticks, even if they are edible.

Thanks to several local school supplies drives, Tulsa kids (along with the teachers who dig into their own pockets to supply their students with pencils and paper) don't have to worry about what they'll use to ink their "What I Did During My Summer Vacation" essays.

These groups and organizations collect everything from crayons, markers and backpacks to school clothing and lunch boxes each year. They then distribute those supplies to kids who need them, making that first day of the end of summer vacation that much less painful.

I don't know how things were when you all went to school, but showing up on the first day of school without a full backpack of new supplies was social suicide -- if the backpack was used, that's an automatic deduction of 10 additional social status points.

What these organizations do to provide for the kids' real need for school supplies, they also do for a kid's more intangible need for social acceptance and belonging. The value of that provision over the course of a life is hard to measure, but anyone who has lived through the experience of elementary and middle school and still has nightmares about it every now and then feels its full weight.

If some extra cash is burning a whole in your wallet this month, kill two birds with one stone when you're shopping for back-to-school stuff for the kid in your life and and snag an extra arm full of school supplies. Not only will the economy enjoy a jolt, but a local child will start the school year with a toolbox just as full as his desire to learn.

Program: PASS (Partnership for the Availability of School Supplies) Fund

Organization: Tulsa Community Foundation, in partnership with Community Action Project, The Schusterman Foundation, Tulsa Public Schools and Union Public Schools

The Goods: The 12-year-old PASS Fund is a different kind of school supplies drive. Rather than collect supplies purchased by members of the community, Tulsa Community Foundation leverages bulk buying power by gathering funding from area philanthropists and using the purchasing departments at participating schools to snag supplies at a reduced price, thanks to the high volume. Supplies are distributed to each student regardless of need who attends one of the schools in the TPS and Union districts both of which have 70 percent student populations which qualify for the free or reduced lunch programs -- a total of 48 TPS and five Union schools. The program is able to serve about 21,000 students each year at less than $10 per student for a full set of supplies (the same haul would cost $35-$40 retail). Heavily used supplies are replenished at the beginning of each school semester. Send contributions to the Tulsa Community Foundation or contact Andrew Morris by calling 494-8823.

Program: Project School Supplies

Organization: Tulsa Teachers Credit Union, in partnership with Cox Communications and KXOJ 100.9 FM

The Goods: Bring supplies to any of the 12 TTCU branches in the Tulsa area through August. Hundreds of Tulsa-area folks provided supplies to nearly 3,000 children last year. Project School Supplies accepts monetary donations, too. Modern Woodmen Insurance will match the first $2,500 raised in the PSS campaign, which will then be donated to charities to purchase needed supplies. Thanks to the rise of coupon blogs -- namely, that of Sarah Roe, the 918 Coupon Queen, part of the Absolute Best of Tulsa-winning blog page at 918Moms.com -- it's easy to get school supplies on the cheap. Check for sales to match with coupons found in Sunday circulars, sale ads, Internet-based coupon sites and manufacturers' Web sites and be prepared to save huge.

Program: Project Elf

The Goods: Thanks to a distribution list that is hundreds of Tulsans strong, Project Elf, a grassroots group of anonymous do-gooders flung across Green Country, collects everything from school clothes to school supplies for kids across the community. When school counselors call, the Elves go to work. Become an Elf or help fund the school supplies stockpiling effort by visiting ProjectElf.org or e-mailing info@projectelf.org.

Program: Stuff the Bus

Organization: Fox 23 and KVOO 98.5

The Goods: Come on down to the parking lot at the 6625 S. Memorial Drive Wal-Mart location (you know, the one north of Woodland Hills Mall) to donate school supplies with Fox 23 and KVOO the week of Aug. 10. An attendant will man the bus all day to accept goodies for Tulsa Public School kiddos. For some ideas of what to bring, don't skip the commercials between the latest reports from Chera -- they'll detail what's needed most by TPS. If you missed the digital transition, pick up a phone and call 388.5353 for more information.

Program: Fill The Backpacks PlayDate

Organization: The Williams Activity Club

The Goods: Bring new school supplies to the second level of the Williams Tower at 2 W. Second Street Aug. 5, 1:00-3:30 p.m., to help fill backpacks for children attending Roosevelt Elementary. There's a chance of getting more out of donating to Fill the Backpacks than just a serious case of the warm fuzzies: Donate five new and unopened items and receive one ticket for a chance to win a prize.