United Way, Essentia Team Up to Deliver More School Supplies

School administrators say the need remains constant, with many students transferring to a school after the year begins.

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – The big annual school supply drive in the Fargo-Moorhead area is behind us – but the need in classrooms persists.

That’s why United Way of Cass-Clay and Essentia Health teamed up to deliver more materials to Eastwood Elementary in West Fargo.

School officials say they have students arriving throughout the entire school year, and many arrive without basic essentials.

So the more than 23,000 additional school supply items provided by those organizations will be very valuable.

“I was just telling some people earlier that on Monday alone, we had three kids start all in the same class. And I was helping them unpack their backpacks – I opened the backpack and I was like, ‘Where’s all your stuff?’ He just looked at me,” recounted Nikki Choate, assistant principal at Eastwood. “It’s very important to have extra supplies through the school year.”

United Way credits Essentia with helping them fill the gap after they used much of their resources on helping 6,500 students with their initial drive.