Salvation Army Ottawa County provides free school supplies to local families

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The Salvation Army Service Center of Ottawa County is helping with the financial burdens that come with the start of the school year by providing local families with free school supplies.

“I appreciate all the help I can get,” said Mary Cooley, who is raising her three grandchildren. “I got custody of them, and my husband passed away this year, so now I’m the only one.”

She was the only one, but on Friday, Cooley and 110 other families received help from the Salvation Army’s Tools for School program.

“They can come in and get as many school supplies as they need for the year,” said Erica Ward, director of the Ottawa County Salvation Army Service Center. “We give them their list of school supplies and they just take it, and they get to pick whatever they want.”

Cooley’s youngest granddaughter, Harmony, couldn’t wait to show our 13 Action News crew her backpack filled with new supplies.

“I have a supply box. I have some erasers and I have a bunch of whiteboard markers. I can’t get them all out,” she said with a smile on her face.

School supplies weren’t the only offerings at the event. Vistra, the parent company of David Besse that donated half of the school supplies, also donated 75 fans to help families beat the heat this summer.

“We care deeply about the stakeholders in the communities where we operate plants and where our people live,” said David Besse Senior Communications Specialist Mark Kanz. “It’s very important to us to have strong communities.”

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