Tools4School Helps Issaquah School District Families with School Supplies

Issaquah, Wash. – June 14, 2018: Issaquah Schools Foundation today announced that the Tools4School program will return for the 2018-19 school year with the goal of helping more students in Issaquah, Bellevue, Sammamish, Newcastle and Renton. A partnership between Issaquah Schools Foundation and Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank, Tools4Schools is a community-wide effort to provide free backpacks filled with school supplies to Issaquah School District students who need financial support. Tools4School needs 1,000 backpacks and supply kits for the 2018-19 school year.

How can the community help? Please donate school supplies! The Tools4School donation drive is currently underway. Donors can purchase pre-packaged supply kits and backpacks online with Supply All Kids, which will manage delivery. Visit supplyallkids.com/#/donate/isf to donate.

How can families register? Tools4School registration is now open. Families are encouraged to register early at bit.ly/Tools4SchoolRegistration.

Tools4School provided more than 900 backpacks to students during the 2017-18 school year. Even in a seemingly affluent area such as the Issaquah School District, there are families in need. Approximately 10 percent of families with children in Issaquah School District schools – more than 2,000 families – identify as being eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program. Anecdotal evidence from principals and counselors indicates that the actual number is higher; some families choose not to report because they fear stigmatizing their children.

Each year, Tools4School helps to remove a barrier to learning and eliminates the potential stigma for students who may arrive on the first day of school unprepared. Tools4School also lessens the burden for teachers and schools. When students arrive with their school supplies in order, teachers can focus more effectively on teaching.

All Tools4School supplies are donated by community members with grant support from partners such as Safeway and the Rotary Clubs of Issaquah and Sammamish. To learn more, visit isfdn.org/tools4school.

About the Issaquah Schools Foundation: Established in 1987, the Issaquah Schools Foundation (an independent 501(c)3 organization) has raised more than $12 million in private fundraising dollars to support the students and educators of the Issaquah School District. The district covers 110 square miles in Issaquah, Bellevue, Sammamish, Newcastle and Renton, and supports more than 21,000 students. Watch how Foundation programs support schools here.

Contact:
Suzanne Lee, Marketing and Communications Specialist
Issaquah Schools Foundation
suzanne@isfdn.org
(425) 391-8557

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