VALLEY, Neb. (KMTV) — The National Retail Federation says this year parents with students in K–12 plan to spend an average of nearly $860 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics.
- The Elkhorn nonprofit COPE has partnered with DC West Community Schools to help kids in need with free donated back-to-school supplies.
- So far the nonprofit has collected over 2300 items but is still in need of over 5000, mostly pencils.
- Single mom Shannon Camden shares how COPE has helped her family ease some of the financial burden back-to-school can bring.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
School starts up in just a couple of weeks, which means lots of families are in shopping mode. From supplies to clothing, shoes and more, it can add up. And in Valley, one nonprofit is stepping up to ease some of that financial stress for families who need it.
This pile of school supplies contains 2,346 donated items from neighbors and 11 churches helping the nonprofit COPE connect to families in need.
In a few weeks, these items will be taken to DC West Community Schools open house for students, and they’ll get to shop for what they need for free.
“DC West is a community where they have a really, really strong community, great school system, but we know that the demographics are pretty split as far as there’s families that are in need and there are families that don’t necessarily have a need for this, and we wanna kind of level the playing field so that kids go to the first day of school and they’ve got the same stuff the kid next to them has,” said Nancy Lary, executive director of COPE.
COPE has been partnering with the school district for years to bring students the supplies they need. In the past, they’ve served 150 students, but this year, with rising costs, they expect to serve between 200–225.
The National Retail Federation says parents with students in K–12 plan to spend an average of nearly $860 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics. While that’s down from 2024 prices, it’s up more than $150 from pre-pandemic averages.
Shannon Camden is a single mom who’s relied on help from the Elkhorn nonprofit COPE. She’s been able to get back-to-school supplies for her 7-year-old son, Dayton.
“It’s just, it’s really hard to do it by myself, and sometimes you need a whole army to help and thank God for this program because they truly, truly care,” said Camden.
While Dayton is moving to a new school, he did go to DC West Elementary, where COPE is a big part of the back-to-school process. Right now, it’s gathering donations for the district’s open house. Those supplies will be free for anyone needing them.
COPE is still in need of over 5,000 items in order to help an estimated 33 students per grade. DC West open houses where donated items will be available is August 11.
