The Summer Totes Project is underway and the plan is to fill 10 totes with items families might need over the summer break and distribute those totes to five area schools. The service project all began out of a Bible study group, said Rebecca Lane who is helping Hill Church coordinate the effort.
Lane, who works for the Stark County School District, has been a member of the Hill Church in Kewanee for four years. This spring, Lane was a part of an area study group that was reading the book, “Rooted.” The group met for 10 weeks at a Toulon coffee shop. One of the suggestions in the book was to come up with a service project that would help the community.
Lane said the group brainstormed the idea and decided their project would help kids in need right in their own communities. That’s how they came up with the idea of filling totes with items such as food, blankets, hygiene projects and other items with which families struggle to buy. The group started out filling five totes on their own and took them to Stark County School District for distribution, but the group wasn’t finished.
They decided to expand the program and Lane said she approached the Hill Church outreach director for help.
“We wanted to do more schools, but our group was small,” she said, and the group also wanted to ensure kids got what they needed over the summer break.
The project was opened up to the community and funds have started coming in but more is needed, said Lane.
The goal is to provide two totes each to Stark County Elementary and four elementary schools in Kewanee. The cost to fill each tote is about $200, she said.
Once the goal is met, Lane said any extra money that is raised for the project will be used to fill additional totes. She believes the project will be a yearly one.
“We are hoping to support our families and to reach out to help families in need. We would also like to invite families to join us for church at 10 a.m. on Sunday,” she said.
Sunday is the deadline for receiving funds. The plan is to begin purchasing items in bulk for the totes and deliver them to the schools before summer break next month.
Information on how to donate to the project can be found on their Facebook page or by emailing SummerTotesProject@gmail.com. Checks, with the memo Summer Totes Project, can be mailed or dropped off at the Hill Church office, located at 107 N. Main St. in Kewanee.
