Backpacks filled for area schoolchildren

ANTIGO — Volunteers with the Fill a Backpack, Fill a Need program will be distributing backpacks filled with school supplies to area families this Monday, Aug. 19.

Families that registered for the program can pick the backpacks up at the schools their children will attend in the fall from 2 to 4 p.m. Students that attend parochial schools can pick their backpacks up at Antigo Middle School.

Amy Reichl, the program’s coordinator, said students from the district’s public elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as students from All Saints Catholic, Peace Lutheran, and Shepherd’s Watch, will receive backpacks this year. Though the registration period for the free backpacks purchased through donations is now closed, Reichl said families interested in receiving a backpack can still inquire about them at their child’s individual school.

“Right now, our numbers are at 496 kids that registered as of today,” Reichl said. “Typically, we’ll end up closer to 600 by the time the school year is done, just because we will have families at the last minute needing supplies, and then families that move in to the area throughout the school year and things like that that need supplies. If they are in need of school supplies, they should contact the school secretary to get put on the late enrollee list, and we’ll do our best to supply them. Never have we turned a family away.”

Reichl called Antigo’s Fill a Backpack, Fill a Need program — which has now been running for over 10 years — unique in comparison with similar programs in neighboring counties.

“Marathon County has a program and other counties do as well. Some of them have certain criteria for getting a backpack,” she said. “For instance, in Marathon County, you have to be on the free and reduced lunch list for school. Whereas for us, we don’t ask for any of that. We don’t turn anybody away. They don’t have to qualify. Everybody qualifies. Sometimes in our lives, we all need a little bit of help, so we’re here to help those families that need it for whatever reason.”

Reichl, who also works at Antigo Middle School, said she believes the program is necessary.

“Every child should be able to start off the school year with what they need to succeed and be successful. Having new school supplies, having Crayola crayons, having the good, quality stuff just sets them up for success. It gives them some pride too to be able to walk in with new goodies to start off their school year,” she said. “We obviously saw a need with students coming to school without what they needed, and that was kind of falling on the teachers’ shoulders to provide that or other people within the district. This way, it’s a way for other people in the community to give back. The people that volunteer for my program, they love to be able to help out. When we distribute the backpacks, it’s fun to see the kids come and choose their backpack and how excited they are to have something fresh and new to start off the school year.”

Reichl noted that Fill a Backpack, Fill a Need is run completely on donations, that no money from the district’s budget goes towards supplies, and that she and others running the program do so as volunteers. She thanked the private individuals and organizations that have donated to it so far this year, which include CoVantage, Walmart, and the Antigo Optimist’s Club.