College of Education collects donations for victims

Washington State University College of Education faculty, staff, and students have arranged three ways to fill Backpacks for Hope with age-appropriate children’s books.

Backpacks for Hope is a WSU effort to collect backpacks filled with school supplies to aid some of the estimated 250,000 children displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Dawn Shinew, associate professor in the college, said there are three ways to participate.

The first is to purchase books at the College of Education Book Fair. The annual fair provides future teachers studying at the college with the opportunity to purchase children’s books for their own libraries or classroom use. From 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, Sept. 28-Oct. 10, the fair will be held in the second floor foyer of Cleveland Hall, home of the college. Books for backpacks may be purchased at special prices and put in the Backpacks for Hope drop-off box at the fair.

The second way is to purchase books Oct. 8, the day of the 2 p.m. Stanford-WSU football game at Martin Stadium, in the Cascade Room of the Compton Union Building, adjacent to the stadium. Books will be sold from 11 a.m. until the end of the game’s halftime. College of Education faculty, staff and students are bringing the Book Fair to the CUB and will handle sales and accept donations.

The third way to get involved is through donations. Checks can be made out to “Scholastic Books” for Backpacks for Hope and mailed to Office of the Dean, WSU College of Education, Cleveland Room 160, Pullman WA 99164-2114.

Donations by check can also be made at the book fair locations. College of Education representatives will select books and donate them. Scholastic Books will provide children’s books at significantly reduced prices for use in Backpacks for Hope.

To participate in Backpacks for Hope, identify the grade level of student you wish to help. Buy a grade-level appropriate backpack, write the grade on a piece of tape affixed to the outside of the backpack. Into the backpack please put:

. School supplies, including notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, markers, rulers, scissors and glue.

. A children’s book, appropriate for the age of the child.

. A stuffed animal for the child.

. A journal or notebook for the child to write down their personal story of how the hurricane has affected their life.

Backpacks with contents will be collected by WSU Community Service Learning Center staff from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Fridays Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, and at the Stanford-WSU football game Oct. 8.

For more information, contact the WSU College of Education at (509) 335-1738 or the WSU Community Service Learning Center at (509) 335-7708.

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