Students receive summer school supplies in Richland

RICHLAND, Wash.-- Volunteers with the Kiwanis of Tri-Cities Industry stood alongside teachers at Jefferson Elementary School in Richland Tuesday while handing out packets of school supplies.

The 250 zip-lock bags filled with pencils, crayons, glue, and paper are intended to help students stay engaged in learning over the summer, and avoid that "summer slump".

"Students tend to regress, forget those things they got with much repitition in the the school year. With students learning virtually, there's already that concern that that's begun to happen. The schools are providing students sith summer packets to work on, but they don't necessarily have the supplies they need to actively engage in them," said Joel Bouchey, President of the Kiwanis of Tri-Cities Industry said Tuesday.

The organization hosts and annual bike ride, the Inland Century Bike Ride to raise money for this and other philanthropic projects, but those have had to be set aside this year due to social distancing restrictions.

"We have delayed (the bike ride) currently until September, and we're going to continue to evaluate whether we're going to be able to do that or not. That's a huge fundraiser for us that we're concerned might not happen for us this year," Bouchey said.

The group has set up a virtual service, selling the placement of lawn flags on patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Fourth of July, and while the effort has raised about $700, it's no where near the $9,000 or more they typically raise through the bike ride.

Bouchey says the group will continue to look at other ways to make up the loss of revenue to help support their community programs.