Edmond nonprofit giving away school supplies to 1,000 students

An Edmond organization is working to make sure Oklahoma students have all the classroom essentials before they go back to school. The Project 66 Food and Resource Center will host a back-to-school giveaway Saturday morning, offering school supplies to up to 1,000 students. Organizers say families from across the metro area are welcome to attend, with no registration or income requirements. The event will also connect families with other local resources and nonprofit organizations. News 9 spoke to Project 66 Director Neil Tate to learn more about Saturday’s event. What is Project 66 for our viewers out there? Tate: Project 66, we’re a food pantry. It’s a food and resource center. We’re in Edmond, and we serve families all throughout Edmond, as well as Luther, Jones, Arcadia and Guthrie. You guys have a big back-to-school event tomorrow morning in Edmond. Who can come, and what will they have access to? Tate: Right, tomorrow morning, 9 a.m., we have a huge back-to-school giveaway. We’re prepared to give school supplies out to 1,000 students. We’ll have everything set up for elementary school kids to get paper, pencils, crayons, markers, all the things that they need. Same thing for middle and high school students. Where are you guys doing this at? Where will this be held? Tate: This will be at First Christian Church in Edmond, and they’re gracious enough to host this event for us. What other resources are going to be available for these families? Tate: Great question. There will be about a dozen other nonprofits from the Edmond area that will be there at the church. So when families pick up their school supplies, they’ll be able to walk through and meet with other local resources to find out what else is available that they could benefit from. School supplies can be expensive, so you don’t discriminate about who can come. You don’t have to have a certain income level. It can be anybody who can show up, right? Tate: That’s right. Yeah, at this back-to-school event, any family from anywhere in the metro area, regardless of their residency or their income, is welcome to come get school supplies. So Project 66 started as a food pantry, right? Tate: Yep. We’re a food pantry. That’s what we do day in and day out. They identified a need. They said, “Hey, if some of our families are struggling with food, [they] are struggling to afford back-to-school supplies.” So they started this about 10 years ago, and yeah, it’s been growing ever since. How are people able to come out? Do they need to sign up? Tate: Right, yeah, they can just show up. There’s no pre-registration. They don’t need to bring any paperwork. They just need to bring their kids. So as long as their kids are with them, then they come through the line and pick out whatever school supplies they need. Anything else that you want the public to know about the event? What does it mean to you personally when you see how you help folks? Tate: Yeah, it’s really gratifying, and we’re just grateful. Project 66 is grateful to be in a community that supports their nonprofits. A variety of local businesses and churches have come together to really make this happen, so we’re grateful to be a part of that and for everybody’s support.