Supply drive sends pupils off to school with a full backpack

MILLSTONE — For the seventh consecutive year, Anita Hahn of Millstone Township is spearheading a school supplies drive that will end today, Aug. 27.

Tomorrow, all of the supplies will be placed in backpacks and delivered to between 10 and 20 children who are in need in the community. Schools in the Millstone Township K-8 School District will open on Sept. 3.

Hahn found collecting enough supplies challenging this year.

“As of right now we are low on supplies for the drive,” she said last week. “Each year the number of children in need varies somewhat.”

Hahn began working on the drive several weeks ago, putting her message on Facebook and contacting people through email.

Her son, Ben, who is an eighth grade pupil, has given her a hand for the past several years. Together, they sort the items and place them in each backpack. They spend a weekend delivering the backpacks to children who might not otherwise have the school supplies they need.

Hahn credits the Millstone Township Women’s Organization with inspiring her volunteerism. She joined the group in 2004.

“It was a group consisting of wonderful, giving and caring women from Millstone who would hold fundraisers” to benefit the fire company, the first aid squad, the schools, and individuals and families in need, Hahn said.

The organization held a food pantry and provided holiday dinners to those who might have otherwise gone without one.

Hahn is a compassionate individual who was raised in a single-parent home.

“There were times when it was very difficult for my mom, who came from Ireland, to even feed my brother and I, and to just have the everyday essentials we needed,” Hahn said.

Coming from that background, she understood the importance that backpacks filled with school supplies could hold for children and their families. She believes the drive is meaningful.

“We try to help alleviate the burden for the families in purchasing the supplies,” Hahn said. “Millstone Township is a very tight community and we take care of our own. There are too many people who help and contribute to the collections to thank. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community as a whole for always being there to support these families in need.”

As the deadline for the drive arrives, Hahn said she will still accept donations of school supplies. She also welcomes parents to contact her if their children would like to collect items for community service. Hahn may be reached at 732-668-1377.

Upcoming efforts will include Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives, a gift card giving tree and the Easter basket and food drive.

Hahn receives help from Margaret Paterson and her sister Dolores Stonaker, both of Millstone, to help feed needy families on a monthly basis.