Oak Ridge Today

Families in need appreciate ADFAC backpacks, school supplies

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Oak Ridge Utility District employees packed 156 backpacks for Robertsville Middle School students. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge Utility District employees packed 156 backpacks for Robertsville Middle School students. (Submitted photo)

 

Becky Hook’s back-to-school shopping list includes 3,500 backpacks, 5,100 dry erase markers, and 700 clipboards, among thousands of other items. That’s because she is shopping for ADFAC, which is giving away the backpacks filled with supplies to children whose families can’t afford them.

A mother of six students at Sunbright School in Morgan County said the backpacks and school supplies ADFAC recently provided for her children came just at the right time.

“This has been an extremely difficult summer. I lost my job and am going through a divorce, but regardless of what is happening in my life, my children still have needs and lives that go on,” Mary Ann Massey said. “These backpacks have been a godsend.”

ADFAC (Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties) is distributing the 3,500 new backpacks with supplies to children in need at 33 schools in Clinton, Oak Ridge, Anderson County, and Morgan County.

“I wish you could see the joy that students have when they come to pick out their backpack and the relief that their grown-ups feel to know that their children have the supplies they need to start the school year,” said Jo Bruce, director of Oak Ridge Schools Family Resource Center. [Read more…]

ADFAC celebrates 30 years with city, ORUD

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ADFAC Board Member, Cande Seay (left), presenting a 30th Birthday cake to the ORUD employees including (L-R) Polli Wright, Ben Andrews, Emily Rios, Raeshell Maples, Sasha Benjamin, David Bunch and Jeff Patterson.

ADFAC Board Member Cande Seay (left), presents a 30th birthday cake to ORUD employees, including, from left to right, Polli Wright, Ben Andrews, Emily Rios, Raeshell Maples, Sasha Benjamin, David Bunch, and Jeff Patterson. (Submitted photo)

 

ADFAC (Aid To Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties Inc.) is celebrating its 30th birthday all year long, a press release said. Birthday cakes will be delivered throughout the community to partners who have helped in the mission of helping neighbors be as self-sufficient as possible, the press release said.

Jane Palmer, ADFAC’s 30th chairperson, said: “It’s just our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the community for 30 years of supporting us. And who doesn’t love cake? It’s a great way for us to not only say thank you but to spread the word about the great work going on at ADFAC.”

Most recently, ADFAC representatives visited all four utility companies that serve ADFAC’s service area including Oak Ridge Utility District, Oak Ridge Electric Department, Clinton Utilities Board, and Powell-Clinch Utility Board. ADFAC presented cakes to these groups as a way to say thank you for the many years of supporting Project SAFE and Project ASSIST, the press release said. [Read more…]

ADFAC school supplies distribution under way

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Clinton Fire Department and ADFAC School Supplies

Members of the Clinton Fire Department spend a morning packing school supplies, loading the fire truck, and delivering them to Clinton schools. (Submitted photo)

 

Since Thursday, July 9, volunteers from all over Anderson County have been sorting donated school supplies for Oak Ridge and Anderson County schools, packing them in bags and backpacks that are loaded into vehicles and distributing the packed items to classrooms.

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties has been coordinating the collection, packing, and distribution of school supplies for 26 years. As a result, teachers aren’t obliged to spend their hard-earned money on items needed by their growing number of students from disadvantaged families.

Last year. ADFAC provided school supplies to more than 2,500 area students from disadvantaged families. This year, the local nonprofit service organization’s staff hopes to increase the number of school supplies by 12 percent with the help of ongoing support from the community. [Read more…]

Walmart, United Way, ADFAC team up to collect school supplies

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Walmart and United Way Fill the Bus

Pictured above, from left to right, are Brian Ferguson, First Student dispatcher; Maria Cacheiro; Marcus Cacheiro; Mateo Cacheiro; Diane Gibson, First Student location manager; Becky Hook, ADFAC school supply coordinator; Loraine Brown, Walmart front end zone manager; Liz Herbes, ADFAC social services program director; Annie Cacheiro, ADFAC executive director; and Rick Morrow, United Way of Anderson County executive director. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

 

Submitted

“Fill The Bus,” an initiative led by Walmart and United Way of Anderson County Inc., helped provide much-needed school supplies to the ADFAC School Supplies Program. ADFAC (Aid To Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties Inc.) provides grade and school specific supplies to an expected 2,500 K-12 students throughout Anderson County. Walmart stores in Clinton and Oak Ridge participated as collection sites for donations.

During the week of July 26-August 4, at both entrances of the Walmart stores, customers were invited to donate school supplies. The concept was that, as customers were purchasing supplies for their own children or grandchildren, they could purchase a few extra for the ADFAC School Supplies Program.

During Tennessee’s sales tax holiday, August 1-3, Walmart in Oak Ridge invited First Student Inc.-Oak Ridge Schools to provide a “real” bus to be parked outside the store to help publicize and raise visibility for the campaign. First Student Inc.-Oak Ridge Schools also provided assistance in transporting the supplies from the donation boxes to the bus and to the storage facility. Several ADFAC staff and volunteers also assisted with the transferring of supplies. [Read more…]

Food Lion foundation donates $2,000 to ADFAC

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The Food Lion Charitable Foundation has donated $2,000 to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, a press release said.

The donation comes just in time to help feed local residents this summer, the press release said. ADFAC will use the gift to provide vouchers for fresh food for local families experiencing economic hardship.

“We are thrilled to receive this contribution,” said Liz Herbes, director of ADFAC’s Social Services program. “It will provide much-needed relief from hunger for dozens of our less fortunate neighbors.”

ADFAC, an independent nonprofit agency established in 1987, exists to serve the basic needs of primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties. ADFAC’s goal is to help families become stable and self-sufficient through a variety of direct assistance services provided by our Social Services and Affordable Housing programs. ADFAC answers more than 6,000 requests for assistance each year. [Read more…]