By Sara Beth Williams–
For at least a decade, Neighborhood Area 11 has been donating school supplies to schools within the neighborhood, including Skycrest Elementary and Kingswood K-8.
This year, Neighborhood Area 11 continued the tradition. On Thursday, Aug. 21, president Jodi Ash and treasurer and secretary Kathy Wright delivered a cart full of school supplies to Skycrest Elementary and Kingswood K-8 each in the morning, bringing smiles and receiving choruses of thanks from principals, vice principals, and office staff at both sites.
New Skycrest principal Suzy Landuyt thanked Ash and Wright for the supplies and said she especially appreciates the notebooks because the school will be focusing on writing this year. Landuyt added that extra supplies come in handy throughout the year when classes run low. Landuyt was formerly the principal at Grand Oaks Elementary for eight years before moving to Skycrest this school year.
Each cart delivered was filled with various school supplies, including markers, crayons, notebooks, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, pencils, new lunch boxes, and more.
“It takes a village,” Ash said after donations were dropped off at Kingswood K-8.
Ash said the first area president was the “brainchild” of the school supplies drive over 10 years ago, and that those who regularly attend Area 11 meetings are familiar with the annual school supplies drive. The area begins to collect supplies as early as July. This year, school in the San Juan Unified School district began on Aug. 14 and Wright said the group typically delivers supplies during the second week of school after calling each office to ask what supplies are specifically needed.
“Everybody knows this is one of the two things we do each year,” Ash said, adding that the neighborhood area also adopts families during the Christmas season in order to provide gifts.
Neighborhood Area 11 meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Century 21 Office, located at 7919 Pebble Beach Drive, Suite 101. Light refreshments are available at 6:30 p.m.
