Many school districts begin school in early August, while others don’t start until after Labor Day. Either way, many local TV stations help out with school supply drives.

WDSU, Hearst’s NBC affiliate in New Orleans, is partnering with Cox, the Ray & Jessica Brandt Family Foundation and Walmart to donate school supplies to those in need in Southeast Louisiana.

WDSU’s Student Connection School Supply Drive is a two-week initiative inviting the community to contribute donations through United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) to purchase school supplies that will be distributed directly to the school systems.

“School supplies are essential tools enabling students to succeed in the classroom,” says Mike Neelly, WDSU’s GM. “Many of our families struggle financially to provide all the school supplies required and teachers often purchase additional supplies with their own money.”

All of the donations from Cox, the Ray & Jessica Brandt Family Foundation, Walmart and the residents of Southeast Louisiana will go toward purchasing supplies at-cost from Walmart.

Supplies will then be delivered by UWSELA and its United Way partners to school systems across parishes including Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Plaquemines, Tangipahoa and Washington.  The school systems will distribute the supplies directly to the classrooms in need.

“Household budgets are tighter than they’ve ever been for families across Southeast Louisiana, and that means students and teachers likely won’t begin the school year with the supplies needed for success,” says Michael Williamson, UWSELA CEO. “Thanks to our generous partners, local school districts will have extra materials on hand – like backpacks, pencils, notebooks, and paper – to help stock classrooms and foster success year-round.”

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