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But there is help available through several back-to-school programs aimed at getting kids the school supplies and clothes they need to start the year off right.
La Crosse County
The Back to School Project through La Crosse County is supplying students in kindergarten through 12th-grade with school supplies and backpacks, said Lindsey Schwarz-Nichols, community liaison coordinator.
The supplemental program gets students the basic supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, crayons, glue and erasers, but cannot always supply specific items, Schwarz-Nichols said. “We want the kids to have a good base.”
Supplies may be donated through Aug. 29 at the La Crosse County Health Department, United Way, Office Depot, Wal-Marts in La Crosse and Onalaska, Wis., all Kwik Trip stores in La Crosse County and TJ Maxx.
Checks should be mailed to the health department, 300 N. Fourth St., La Crosse, WI 54601.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is extending its adopt-a-family program to help families who are struggling with back-to-school expenses, Major Curtiss Hartley said.
“We are actually trying to provide a new set of clothing and shoes for each child,” Hartley said. “We are reaching out to the community and inviting folks to become participants in this.”
He said children will be supplied with shirts, pants, shoes and possibly some extras such as socks and underwear for the first day of school.
“Budgets are so stretched, and families are deciding to do without or deciding to cut back,” Hartley said. “Filling that gap pulls at the heart strings.”
The Salvation Army is looking for people who are interested in adopting a child or children for the back-to-school program or any donations.
For more information, call (608) 782-6126 and ask for the Back to School Adopt A Family program.
Viterbo University
The positive psychology class at Viterbo University is coordinating a school supply give-away on Aug. 16.
James Kerckhove said the students are collecting donations that will be distributed to area children from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the D.B. Reinhart Center for Science, Ethics and Technology.
Donations can be dropped off at the Todd Wehr Memorial Library on the Viterbo Campus.
For more information or to make a donation, call (608) 317-7275.
Free, reduced-price lunch applications accepted
Families in the La Crosse School District can begin applying for free and reduced-price meals for the 2008-09 school year.
But applications can also be submitted anytime throughout the year as household sizes, income or job status change, Diane Johnson from the school nutrition office said.
Information is kept confidential and students are not identified in the lunch or breakfast line.
Applications will arrive in the mail in mid-August, can be obtained at La Crosse schools or online at www.lacrosse
schools.com. More than 3,000 students from more than 1,400 families received free and reduced-cost lunches during the 2007-08 school year in La Crosse schools, Angie Seeger said.
The cost of a reduced-price meal for this school year is 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch.
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
