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As the summer heats up, the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office is hosting the first “Pack the Backpack” campaign this summer to collect school supplies for the upcoming school year in partnership with the Chambers County School District.

Collection boxes have been placed on both sides of the county at the Chambers County Annex in Lanett and the Chambers County Courthouse in LaFayette.

“We as the sheriff’s office have partnered with the board of education because we see the importance of the students having to have the necessities to be able to grow and achieve their goals in life,” said CCSO Major TJ Wood.

Some recommended supplies for the 2023-2024 donation are fluorescent highlighters, 36-count packs of no. 2 pencils, wide rule and narrow rule notebook paper, a wooden 12-inch ruler and a basic calculator. The complete list of recommended supplies is on the CCSO’s Facebook page.

“There are those times when a student is not able to obtain the necessary items based on funding,” Wood said. “We’re hoping that this campaign to partner with the Board of Education will allow our students to be able to have the school supplies that are needed for them to accomplish what they need to in school.”

The collection will continue until the first day of school. However, Wood said the CCSO is hopeful that the community support will allow the collection to continue beyond the summer.

“We’re hoping that the citizens get behind this and help all throughout the school year,” Wood said.

Wood said it’s important to provide children of the county with the tools they need to “become better citizens and to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.”

“Children are our future,” Wood said.

“It would be like me giving you a car but not giving you the keys,” Wood said.

As well as providing for students in need, Wood said the campaign hopes to alleviate the burden on teachers who often supply classroom necessities.

“There are a lot of times when the school teachers themselves are the ones that provide these necessary items out of their own pockets,” Wood said. “And so together between us and the Board of Education, we’re hoping that we’ll take some of that burden of providing those things off of the teachers and still be able to have the items that the kids need.”