Top photo: Members of the PAC opened boxes and sorted hundreds of supplies for the entire school last week.
By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Henry, Tenn.–It really does take a village.
The Henry Elementary School Parent Action Committee has done something for the school’s students –and parents –which might have seemed impossible.
With help from Commercial Bank & Trust, Tosh Farms, Henry Methodist Church and individual donations, the PAC has collected $10,000 worth of school supplies for the students.
What that means is that Henry School parents didn’t have to buy anything for their students except for backpacks for the new school year, which starts with a half-day on Friday and a full day on Monday, August 5.
Becky Jones of the PAC said, “This has been such a blessing to our school, teachers, students, and families of students. A HUGE thank you to Tosh Farms, Commercial Bank, and Henry Methodist Church for your donations to make this happen.”
How did this project start? Jones said, “On behalf of the PAC, I wrote letters to various partners in education and area churches in Henry asking for their support of this initiative.
“After I got confirmation from the person I sent the letter to, I sent them the supply lists and the anticipated number of students for each grade. Tosh Farms ordered the bulk of the supplies themselves and had them shipped to the school. Commercial Bank collected the supplies with help of their employees to cover one of the grades, and Henry Methodist gave a monetary donation to cover anything else we needed for the school supplies.”
Jones noted that Commercial Bank typically makes a donation to the school anyway but since they had a very specific list to go by for this project, they were able to collect what they needed for the grade they were given (they covered third grade supplies).
Jones said she worked with Jimmy Tosh and his secretary to sort out the supplies and they ordered all of them directly from Howard D Happy.
“I’m using the money donated from Henry Methodist to provide some supplies to the Pre-k teachers and anything else that is needed,” she said.
Jones thanked everyone who worked to make this possible for the students of Henry Elementary.
Chris Ham from Commercial Bank and Trust Company in Paris delivers school supplies for the third grade.