United Way of Yuma County holds drive for school supplies

Sunrise anchor Samantha Byrd spoke with the Executive Director of United Way about the drive.

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The United Way of Yuma is hosting a drive for school supplies, which first started since 1999. However, the drive was hosted by another organization.

"It used to live at the YRMC Foundation, but during COVID is home actually moved to United Way of Yuma County," said Karina Jones, Executive Director of United Way of Yuma County.

When asked what they give out to students in Yuma County, Jones said:

"We give backpacks full of school supplies to every single school in our county. So every district, from Wellton to Gadsden, Somerton, San Luis, all of them here in Yuma. We supply with backpacks full of school supplies."

When asked what makes United Way's school supply drive different from other organizations, Jones said:

"We're supplying the backpacks filled with supplies directly to the schools. So what the schools do is they put in a request and they say we have about 50, sometimes it's up to 150 students, that we feel need a backpack. So then, what we do is we set aside a certain amount for every single school, and then before the start of the school year, we get these backpacks to the school so that if a child shows up without a backpack, they simply just turn around and give them a backpack. They're unmarked. They don't say United Way. There's no branding on it because we don't want kids to feel like an outcast knowing like, 'Oh man, that's a free backpack.' So, it is simply just a backpack filled with supplies, water bottles, headphones, everything that they may need. They have it the first day of school."

If you want to volunteer or donate to United Way, you can visit their website, or visit their Facebook or Instagram.