LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the summer winds down and students start heading back to school this year, youth in Louisville and around the state will be able to check one assignment off their list — to come to class on day one prepared with the necessary school supplies.
For the last nine years, LG&E employees and the Lord's Kitchen, a charitable organization that feeds the hungry and homeless in Louisville, have spearheaded Louisville's annual Supply Drive. With the help of the company's Generation Services Department, Feed the City and Walmart, the 2010 School Supply Drive will distribute approximately 3,800 backpacks filled with school supplies to children in Louisville.
Last week in the surrounding area, 2,750 backpacks were distributed in Meade County, Bullitt County, Carroll County and Harrodsburg. An additional 8,000 backpacks were also distributed last week in 21 Lexington neighborhoods as part of the annual "Ready, Set, Go! Neighborhood Back-to-School Rallies." The event was coordinated by the non-profit organization LexLinc and sponsored by Kentucky Utilities Company.
Each school kit will include paper, pocket folders, glue sticks, pencils, as well as other supplies provided at dramatically-reduced costs by Walmart.
Beginning at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, LG&E volunteers will gather at the company's Broadway Office Complex, located at 820 W. Broadway, to assemble the school supply kits and prepare them for distribution on Saturday, Aug. 14. Once assembled, the kits will be placed in backpacks and separated by grade range — Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten-fifth grade and sixth grade-12th grade.
3,000 kits will be distributed at two Louisville-area locations Saturday while an additional 800 will be sent to various Jefferson County Public Schools and their resource centers.
"Every year our volunteers look forward to organizing the backpacks and making the back-to-school season special for students in Louisville and around the state," said Fred Jackson, Director of Generation Services for E.ON U.S., parent of LG&E. "Just to see how excited the students get when they open their backpacks makes it all worth it."
Jackson added: "We are thrilled to have so much local support for the School Supply Drive because it has had such a positive impact on the families in the communities we serve."
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LG&E is a wholly-owned subsidiary of E.ON U.S. LLC that serves 314,000 natural gas and 389,000 electric customers in Louisville, Ky., and 16 surrounding counties.
