Solicitor’s office, state Human Trafficking Task Force donate supplies to local schools

School children across the 8th Circuit, comprised of Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry counties, will again be greeted with the time-honored tradition of a school supply donation from the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Eighth Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Wednesday that his office, in partnership with the South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force, is distributing school supplies to area schools.

The donations were collected by participants in the office’s diversion programs, such as Pre-Trial Intervention, Juvenile Pre-Trial Intervention, Juvenile Arbitration, Traffic Education Program, and Alcohol Education Program. Participants can donate school supplies in lieu of some of their community service hours, which became much more necessary amid the global pandemic, according to 8th Circuit PTI Director Dale Allen.

“Since the pandemic, it has been much more difficult for our program participants to find places to volunteer,” Allen said. “Donating school supplies gives the participants an opportunity to still make an impact in the community and the need for school supply donations is as great as ever.”

After collecting supplies for most of the year, the donations are sorted out for distribution to each of the school districts across the circuit. The supplies are being distributed over the next several days, just as the school bells in the area begin to ring once again.

The school supply collection fits perfectly with the stated mission of the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office to balance accountability with restorative justice, a mission Solicitor Stumbo says he is proud to embrace.

“The mission of our office is to balance accountability with restorative justice, and the school supply donation program is another tool to help criminal defendants put their lives back on track to being productive, law-abiding citizens,” Solicitor Stumbo said. “What is exciting about these programs is that one act of giving changes two lives at once. It blesses a child with much-needed supplies for the school day and gives the program participant the opportunity to experience the joy of pouring into others instead of taking from them.”