HANOVER, Pa. — The Exchange Club of Hanover kicked off the school year with a school supplies giveaway Tuesday night, providing students with the tools to get them through the next few weeks.
Hanover students were given backpacks filled with various school supplies and snacks as they head back to school this week. This is part of a yearly youth program put on by the Exchange Club to support students and their families as prices for everyday items remain high.
Tawnya Murphy, a Hanover resident, said, "Right now everything’s costing a lot, so it's good that they’re doing this for the parents especially."
The National Retail Federation calculates that each household is expected to spend $875 on back to school supplies this year. This is a slight decrease from $890 in 2023, which researchers say is due to an increase in tech purchases last year, but is still one of the highest estimated school expense years since 2007.
Murphy said some in her community could use the extra help.
"We have some neighbors that have little kids that definitely need it this year, so I picked it up for them." Murphy said.
Supporting students and their families is why George Hubbard with the Exchange Club says the group puts on the event. "Right now there are a lot of people that have hardship...We feel that as a service club this is something we can give back to the community."
But even with the financial strain that back to school time can put on peoples' bank accounts, attendance was slow for the first half of the Exchange Club school supplies giveaway. Organizers suspect this was due to a local "back to school night" in the area occupying parents.
After some street advertising and a little friendly competition between volunteers to see which group could distribute more bags, the organization was able to hand out all 175 school supplies filled backpacks.