As published in the Bellingham Herald on September 16th, 2002
I was born during the first half of the last century and educated in the separate (Catholic) school system in Canada. At the beginning of each year the nuns provided us with
- A wooden ruler.
- A notebook
- An eraser.
- And a woden ink pen with a nib.
They kept the ink wells on our desks full.
By providing us with these materials, we felt that the school system considered our eduation to be important and this made us more receptive to learning.
The public school system in our county does not provide our students with all of the necessary school supplies. For most parents, providing their fledglings with their school supplies is not a financial burden. However, there are many children in our community whose parents cannot afford to purchase these school supplies.
The Opportunity Council, in conjunction with Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU), is seeking school supplies that will be provided to children who, through no fault of their own, cannot afford to buy their school supplies.
Most needed are three-ring binders, pointed scissors, backpacks, notebook dividers, rulers, primary pencils, pink erasers, coloring pencils and solar calculators.
Please consider welcoming low-income children back to school and letting them know that you consider their education important to you by donating school supplies to the Opportunity Council or to any WECU branch. Branches are located at 600 E Holly St., 1600 Birchwook Ave., and Barkley Village in Bellingham, at 1678 main St. in Ferndale and 444 Front St. in Lynden.
Sheila L. Richardson
Bellingham
