Tulsa Co. Nonprofit Providing School Supplies To Students In Need

With the start date for many school districts just around the corner, many families are trying to get their kids school supplies for the upcoming year.

In Tulsa County, Restore Hope Ministries has been working to provide school supplies to students for 30 years.

Organizers with Restore Hope Ministries say their work began when a woman came up to them with a $300 check, saying her child was the only kid who didn't have the school supplies she needed, and she didn't want other students to go through that.

Now, Restore Hope Ministries, along with partners like TTCU Federal Credit Union, have been collecting donations and boxing them up so families who go to school in Tulsa County can get the supplies they need to start the school year off right.

"They need the supplies to be able to take the tests and do all the things that we expect for them, so that they can live into the dreams we all have for them," Restore Hope Ministries executive director Jeff Jaynes said. "We want to make sure that they have those things, and so we want to take the burden off of the kid, off of the family."

Despite being a big project that takes months of work to figure out what students will need, from pre-K students all the way to high school students, Jaynes said in every box, students will find things like pens and pencils, notebooks, binders and more depending on their grade level.

For many parents and grandparents like Beatrice Stake, having all these supplies in one spot makes it a little easier on her so she doesn't have to make extra trips to the store

"It helps a lot when you’re not able to get the school supplies right then and there. It helps when someone can give you a helping hand," Stake said.

To get supplies, parents will need to bring a photo ID, social security cards for the parent or guardian and their children, as well as proof of birthdate for the kid.

This program is for public school students pre-K through high school.

From Aug. 5 to Aug. 9, students attending school in the Bixby, Broken Arrow, Glenpool, Owasso, Sperry, and Union School districts will be able to pick up school supplies at Restore Hope's south location at 6910 South 101st East Avenue in Tulsa. Parents can pick up those supplies each day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Friday, pickup is only between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

From Aug. 12 through Aug. 16, students attending school in the Allen-Bowden, Anderson, Berryhill, Collinsville, Jenks, Sand Springs, and Tulsa districts will be able to pick up school supplies at Restore Hope's main location at 2960 Charles Page Boulevard in Tulsa. They can pick up those supplies each day of the week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.