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Huntington Bank donating 1,100 backpacks with supplies
The cost of filling a backpack and paying for grade-school activities has gone up 34 percent in three years.
YOUNGSTOWN — Huntington Bank is donating 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies to service organizations in the bank’s six-county Mahoning Valley Region.
Huntington kicked off the program Monday at its downtown office at 23 Federal St. by giving 200 backpacks to three Mahoning County agencies: Family Service Agency’s Day Break, an emergency shelter for homeless, runaway and throwaway children; Beatitude House, sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters, which operates programs for disadvantaged women and children in Mahoning and Trumbull counties; and Mahoning County Children Services.
Similar distributions will occur from Huntington Banks in Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio; and Lawrence, Mercer and Erie counties in Pennsylvania, said Frank Hierro, president of Huntington Bank’s Mahoning Valley Region.
Huntington National Bank’s annual Backpack Index estimates that over the past three years, the cost of filling a backpack and paying for the activities of elementary school children has increased 34 percent, from $351 to $472; and for high school students, the cost has increased 11 percent, from $894 to $998. Only middle school students will see the cost remaining relatively stable at $535, according to the index.
The biggest increase for elementary students is the rental fee for musical instruments, which has risen from $228 to $299. Those pupils are also being required to pay additional field trip and school fees. The increase for high school students reflects continuing raises in the pay-to-play fees, which have risen from $75 three years ago to $125 now.
“We decided to partner with agencies and leave it up to them to place the backpacks and school supplies where they are most needed,” Hierro said.
Day Break provides shelter for children age 11-18, all of whom go to school, so these supplies are very welcome, said Ed Bunkley, Day Break program director.
“It is great for our kids, particularly the throwaways, because they have nothing. We supply them uniforms and shoes and other necessities for school, so we’re very excited about this project,” he said.
Mahoning County Children Services helps about 2,000 families a year, many of whom have school-age children, said Brad Price, chief supervisor of the agency’s Intake Department.
Receiving the backpacks from Huntington now is particularly “good timing,” said Teresa Boyce of Beatitude House.
“We are having our back-to-school giveaway Thursday for all the women in our program. On any given day, we have 100 homeless children in our program, many of whom are of school age,” Boyce said.
Hierro said the backpacks will contain a variety of items such as vouchers for extracurricular activities such as “pay to play” and musical instrument rentals.
“It’s not just pencils and erasers and paper,” he said.
alcorn@vindy.com
Huntington Bank’s Mahoning Valley Region is giving away 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies to agencies in six counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania to distribute to children in their programs. The area banks and agencies are:
OHIO
COLUMBIANA COUNTY, 200 backpacks.
Distribution point, Firestone Banking Office, 24 North Park Ave., Lisbon.
Distribution was Monday.
Receiving backpacks: Community Action Head Start, 100 packs; Job & Family Services, 100 packs.
MAHONING COUNTY, 200 backpacks.
Distribution point, Federal Plaza Banking Office, 23 Federal Plaza, Youngstown.
Distribution was Monday.
Receiving backpacks: Family Service Agency’s Day Break Program, 50 packs; Mahoning County Children Services, 100 packs; Beatitude House, 50 packs.
TRUMBULL COUNTY, 200 backpacks.
Distribution point, Main Avenue and Market Street Banking Office, 108 Main Ave. S.W., Warren.
Distribution date, Thursday, 9 to 11 a.m.
Receiving backpacks: Trumbull County Children’s Services, 100 packs; Trumbull County Job & Family Services, 100 packs.
PENNSYLVANIA
MERCER COUNTY, 150 backpacks.
Mercer County distribution points: Greenville Banking Office and Sharon Banking Office.
Distribution dates for both offices: Wednesday, 9 to 11 a.m.
Greenville Banking Office, 187 Main St., Greenville.
Receiving backpacks: The Good Shepherd Center, Greenville, 75 packs; Sharon Banking Office, 1 E. State St., Sharon;Mercer County Family Center, Sharon, 75 packs.
LAWRENCE COUNTY, 200 backpacks.
Distribution point: New Castle Banking Office,101 E. Washington St., New Castle.
Distribution date, Wednesday, 2 to 4 p.m.
Receiving backpacks: Lawrence County Community Action Partnership, New Castle, 100 packs; New Castle School District (distressed status), New Castle, 100 packs.
Source: Huntington Bank