Iberia Bank, a 126-year-old subsidiary of Iberia Corporation, has selected locations for the Community Back to School Bash in Palm Beach County and Tools for Schools in Broward County. The program is called “i Gives Back.”
Branches throughout Palm Beach and Broward counties will collect school supplies from July 1 through Aug. 2 including: crayons, pencils, erasers, markers, glue sticks, lined notebook paper, composition notebooks, student scissors, two-pocket folders, index cards, highlighters, ball-point pens, spiral notebooks, three-ring binders, rulers, calculators and backpacks. These items will be distributed to children in need who may not otherwise have access to new school supplies to start classes in the fall.
The Community Back to School Bash is a not-for-profit organization that collaborates with nonprofit organizations throughout Palm Beach County to serve underprivileged, homeless and foster-care students. This partnership provides supplies, backpacks, information and resources to empower children to begin the school year with confidence.
At the organization’s annual back-to-school bash, each student is paired with a personal shopper who guides the child through a store of new school supplies. Children have the opportunity to select grade-appropriate items necessary to start the school year. Last year, more than 70 nonprofit agencies served more than 12,000 students ages 4 through high school.
Tools for Schools Broward is a not-for-profit organization that operates an 8,000-square-foot center, which provides teachers in Title I schools with the opportunity to shop for the supplies they need for their classrooms at no cost. Since the group was founded in 2001, Tools for Schools Broward has provided more than $4 million in new school supplies for teachers providing instruction in low-income schools.
“The teachers who shop at the Tools for Schools Broward center serve students whose family incomes qualify them for free or reduced-cost lunches,” said Joren Jameson, president and CEO of the Broward Education Foundation. “According to our research, 88 percent of Broward County teachers spend up to $1,000 of their personal funds each year on school supplies for their classrooms. Our goal is to eliminate the need for teachers to dip into their own pockets.”
School supply donations may be dropped off at the following Iberia Bank locations in Palm Beach County: 1315 W. Indiantown Road, Jupiter, (561) 653-5070; 605 N. Olive Avenue, West Palm Beach, (561) 653-5050; 119 S. State Road 7, Royal Palm Beach, (561) 204-2400; 2764 S. Congress Avenue, Palm Springs, (561) 968-1377; 1101 N. Congress Avenue, Boynton Beach, (561) 968-1000; 900 SE 6th Ave., Delray Beach, (561) 278-4560; and 1180 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, (561) 869-4861.
