Gallo sales agent organizes drive to support Cape students
As the summer reaches its midway point and stores begin to advertise back-to-school items, BHHS Gallo Realty Sales Agent Robin Palumbo Thompson is seeking contributions for her Cape Henlopen School District student support project.
"So many local children need help to be successful at school," said Palumbo Thompson. "Yet many of the items needed are small and easy to buy. When you go to the store yourself, please buy two of an item and donate one. That will make a huge difference to a local schoolchild!
"I attended a learning event locally about a month ago," Palumbo Thompson said, "and the presenter was giving back to her community. She inspired me to make a difference, so I decided to team up for this worthwhile cause with my friend Elizabeth Hughes Sanchez of Union of Body, Mind, and Soul. I asked around about local nonprofits, but all of them already had funding or lots of support. So I decided to reach out to the district, including the homeless liaison, and they provided me with the list of items needed for the students."
She categorized lists of items needed to make shopping easier:
• Clothing and Personal Care: athletic shorts (navy blue) and T-shirts (gray) in sizes small, medium, large, extra-large, extra-extra-large; socks (youth and adult sizes for boys and girls); underwear (male and female, various sizes, dark colors); toothpaste and toothbrushes; deodorant; female hygiene products; soap (liquid and bar).
• Art Supplies: mat boards; acrylic paint, paintbrushes, and oil pastels; high fire cone 5/6 glazes; sketchbooks; stamps; scrapbooking paper, canvases, colored pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, art pencils; masking tape; five-gallon buckets; sponges for cleaning; muslin fabric; canvas stretchers; plastic bats for pottery wheels.
• School Supplies: 1, 1.5 and two-inch three-ring binders with inside pockets and clear-view cover; clear page dividers; five- and eight-tab page dividers; paper and plastic pocket folders; looseleaf paper (wide-ruled, with and without punched holes); spiral notebooks (wide-ruled); spiral notebooks (college-ruled); composition notebooks (wide-ruled); graph paper; pens (blue, black, erasable); No. 2 wood pencils (sharpened, with erasers); packages of cap erase; markers; colored pencils; Crayola Crayons (no jumbo); highlighters; EXPO dry-erase markers; Sharpite (broad/chisel tip); gluesticks; scissors (5-inch, rounded); rulers; 3-x-5 index cards; earbuds or headphones for iPhones; school supply or pencil boxes; zippered pouches for three-ring binders; backpacks for books (no wheels); flashdrives; iPad chargers.
"I’d like to have items by Friday, Aug. 16," she said, "and they can be delivered to our office at 16712 Kings Highway. I can also take donations through PayPal robinpthompson@verizon.net and I’ll buy the items. All the supplies will be delivered to the district office before the start of school, and the officials there will distribute to the children."
"We live in such a wonderful area," Palumbo Thompson noted, "that no student or parent should have to worry that they won’t have the supplies needed to have a successful school year."
For more information, contact Thompson at 302-645-6661, Ext. 2134, or directly at 302-745-8541.
