School Supply Drive For First Day Festival Underway
July 22, 2014
CHARLESTON, SC –The City of Charleston is conducting a community-wide school supply drive in conjunction with the 12th annual First Day Festival, which will be held Sunday, August 17, 2014, at Liberty Square at the SC Aquarium and the Charleston Maritime Center. During the festival, thousands of parents, children, teachers and volunteers enjoy free school supplies, educational information, healthy foods, entertainment, boat rides and tours of the SC Aquarium and Ft. Sumter Museum.
To prepare for the Festival, volunteers pre-pack thousands of backpacks with school supplies that the children are given for free at the festival. To make this possible, the city is collecting supplies from businesses, non-profits, churches, and other community groups that have signed up to run their own school supply drive, and is also asking the public to drop off supplies at one of the following locations:
- City of Charleston Recreation Facilities:
o Bees Ferry Landing- 1590 Ashley Gardens Blvd.
o James Island Recreation Complex- 1088 Quail Drive
o Charleston Tennis Center- 19 Farmfield Avenue
o Daniel Island Recreation Facility- 235 Seven Farms Drive
o City Recreation Department- 823 Meeting Street
- Charleston County School District- 75 Calhoun Street
- Charleston County Public Library- 68 Calhoun Street
- Charleston County Government- 4045 Bridge View Drive
- O.T. Wallace County Office Building- 101 Meeting Street
- City of Charleston- 50 Broad Street
Mindy Sturm, Director of the Mayor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families, said, “The success of the First Day Festival is the result of collaborative partnerships and extraordinary community support. Financial, in-kind and volunteer support allows the City to the First Day Festival at no cost to families. The Charleston community has established a model of civic engagement in support of education.”
First Day Festival is a national campaign to generate community support for schools, excitement about the beginning of another school year and to celebrate education.The First Day initiative encourages parents to take their child to school on the first day. Employers are encouraged to support education by allowing employees time off (paid, unpaid, or flextime) to participate in activities at their child’s school throughout the year.
