MIU IV partners to help children in need

Staff report

GROVE CITY, PA.

Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV and Feed the Children have partnered to offer assistance to children in need.

MIU IV staff members and students braved the low temperatures last month to unload a tractor-trailer filled with backpacks, school supplies, books, nonperishable food and personal-care items to deliver to students throughout the region.

Feed the Children, an international relief organization, partners with organizations throughout the country to deliver essentials to children in need.

Each year, they collect donations from patrons and choose partners from across the United States to deliver items they have collected. This year, they selected MIU IV’s Pennsylvania’s Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness as partner for the third time.

Region 5 of this initiative ensures that homeless children receive an appropriate education by assisting them with the removal of barriers and obstacles often caused by homelessness. Operated by MIU IV, Region 5 serves school-age students in Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties.

Wendy Kinnear, MIU IV’s Region 5 coordinator, organized the effort several weeks before the delivery of supplies to MIU IV’s central office in Grove City. She called upon John Suchonic, MIU IV’s coordinator of building and grounds, to plan the logistics to receive the shipment.

“Feed the Children arrives in an 18-wheeler filled with various supplies to help children in need,” Kinnear said. “It is our job to coordinate the unloading and distribution of the items as efficiently and seamlessly as possible. In spite of the frigid temperatures, Mr. Suchonic and his team worked really hard to unload the trucks as quickly as possible.”

Bryda Drumm, a social worker for MIU IV, assisted Kinnear in selecting recipients and dispersing the items.

Drumm noted that the backpacks and supplies make a tremendous difference in the education of the children that the MIU IV serves.

“Many children that we serve here at the IV face obstacles and barriers that can interrupt their education. It is our job to help remove those barriers,” said Drumm. “One of major obstacles that children face is the lack of school supplies, food and personal-care items. The items provided by Feed the Children are a tremendous help.”

Drumm delivered supplies to crisis shelters, school districts, Head Start programs and MIU IV’s special-education classes.

“I can see the joy on the face of each child when they receive a backpack or a book,” Drumm said. “It makes a huge impact. These students do not take anything for granted. They truly appreciate the items that Feed the Children provides.”

Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV is an educational service agency that provides programs and services to 27 school districts in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

As one of 29 Intermediate Units in Pennsylvania, MIU IV implements projects administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the General Assembly and the U.S. Department of Education.