Cheyenne, Wyoming, Church Gives Away Free Backpacks and School Supplies as Costs Rise

North Cheyenne Baptist Church in Cheyenne is giving away hundreds of free backpacks and school supplies to students and teachers before classes begin, as back-to-school costs rise for families. The church’s annual backpack giveaway is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the church, located at 5912 Weaver Road. The giveaway is open to local students, and teachers may pick up supplies for their classrooms.

Church member Ginni Sutherland said rising prices for groceries, clothing and other goods have affected many households. “I think we’re all aware of the increase in groceries, the increase in clothes, the increase in everything,” she said. She said the church’s goal is to help parents by covering school supplies for the year, so they can use their money for items such as shoes or clothes.

Sutherland said the effort began about five years ago through the church’s “Praise in the Park” outreach, which was started to connect the congregation with people outside the church building. “We kind of wanted to open our praise in the park to everybody. Not everybody’s comfortable coming into a church building. But they’ll come by and stand by and listen or whatever,” she said.

The giveaway has grown since it began. Sutherland said the church gave away about 96 backpacks in the first year. This year, the church prepared 216 backpacks filled with school supplies, and about 135 were still available ahead of the giveaway. She said church members worked together to prepare the supplies, with volunteers helping assemble the backpacks and organize the effort.

Each backpack includes items elementary students need in the classroom, including binders, washable markers, No. 2 pencils, pens, pencil cases, crayons, glue sticks, sticky notes and erasers. Each backpack also includes a pocket New Testament.

The giveaway comes as families across the country face higher back-to-school expenses. According to an analysis from Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation, the prices of common school supplies increased 7.7% this year, with families paying an average of $173.45 for school supply purchases. Some items rose more sharply, including lunch boxes, which increased nearly 27%, one-subject notebooks, which increased 23%, and notebook paper, which increased 20%, according to the analysis.

Sutherland, who works in nutrition services for a local school district, said she sees how important it is for students to have what they need when they enter the classroom. “Part of that is making sure that they have what they need to have a successful school year. I work for the school district doing nutrition services. So, I see the need of food. [When they have] full bellies, they learn better.”

She said helping families save money on school supplies can allow them to put those dollars toward other necessities.

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