Getting ready for school isn’t simply a matter of some No.

Saturday, August 07, 1999

Getting ready for school isn’t simply a matter of some No. 2 pencils, a box of crayons and a few tablets anymore. And the added expense of school supplies can put a family, who’s already struggling, that much closer to the edge.

Help is available for those families, however, and it’s situated in the center court at OakPark Mall. Three saplings, hung with tags, stand between a table and a school bus.

Each tag is coded, and written on the tag are school supplies that a particular child is in need of. Shoppers can take a tag, buy one, two, as many of the items on the list as they want, and return the items and tag to the Salvation Army-manned table no later than 5 p.m. Aug. 16. The supplies – scissors, spiral notebooks, calculator, protractor, compass, colored pencils … the list goes on – will get to the child who requested them.

"It’s hard to believe, but I would be willing to say there are between 150-200 children who could use some help like this," Salvation Army social services director Debbie Stahl said. "We’re taking applications through Monday."

To get your child’s needs on The Caring Tree, parents should go to the Salvation Army before 4 p.m. Monday armed with address and income verification, the child’s social security or medical cards and a list of needed school supplies.

"Parents get hit pretty hard this time of year," Stahl said. "Especially if they have more than one child."

Last year, The Caring Tree in Austin served more than 200 children. Statewide, the program provided more than 11,000 kids with a brighter start to the school year.

In Austin, OakPark Mall, the Salvation Army and Y-105 radio have teamed up to help kids who need it for the seventh year in a row.

While most of the tags on the trees appear to be for elementary school students, OakPark General Manager Colleen Klucas said the mall employees make sure that high school students aren’t left out.

"We get a list from the high school – with no names – just the number of students and what their needs are," Klucas said. "We (mall staff) go shopping and fill the bags with whatever’s on the list. Every penny that’s donated goes toward school supplies."

Klucas added that Austin done a "terrific" job of coming through for the program, although sometimes it’s over the last few days of the drive.

"We’ve been really lucky with the community’s response in the past," she said. "Sometimes we have to make another call for help, but people are very generous once they know what’s going on."

Some of the larger past contributors include the First United Methodist Church Questers, Austin Noon Lions, Eagles Auxiliary 703, Christ Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Brotherhood-Cedar River Branch 8198.

For detailed information, stop by The Caring Tree in the OakPark Mall center court of phone OakPark Mall at 437-7634 or the Caring Tree Hotline at (612) 928-4668.