The Back to School project has been running for the past 25 years under the direction of Larry and Ruth Orth, who retired last summer.
The project provides all the items on school supply lists — pencils, glue sticks, notebooks and much more — for underprivileged elementary students in the Cedar Valley.
Over the years, the Back to School project has served 49,397 students, including those served multiple years. Last year alone, volunteers filled almost 3,500 backpacks with supplies for area students. There are thousands of families in the area that struggle with daily expenses and with the rising costs of school supplies, many simply cannot afford to provide the necessary supplies for their children's education. The Back to School attempts to lessen some of that burden and provide the students with the supplies and confidence they need when entering the new school year.
After careful and calculated consideration, the Cedar Valley Jaycees Board of Directors voted to take over leadership of the project and continue the work that its predecessors have started.
“While the structure and procedures may not look exactly the same, the mission to aide the underprivileged students of the community remains the same. We are very excited to continue this amazing project in our community” said Mike Webb, President of the Cedar Valley Jaycees.
The Cedar Valley Jaycees would like to thank the Waterloo Schools Foundation and Waterloo Warehousing and Service Co. for their assistance with this program.
MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON
1/2
©2023 Cedar Valley Jaycees
Member of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Organization