Beck employees donate school supplies for Putnam students
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Beck Automotive Group employees Zoe Waldron and Matt Buckles carry school supplies toward a Putnam County School District truck that will deliver the supplies to local schools. -
Beck Automotive Group employee Misty Guessford, left, hands a box of school supplies to Putnam County School District Media Specialist Melissa McDaniel on Thursday as they load a district truck with donated supplies to be distributed to local schools. -
Wayne McClain, left, vice president of Beck Automotive Group, watches as Beck employee Matt Buckles loads school supplies into a school district truck Thursday. -
Backpacks that will be donated to Putnam County students rest on the floor at Hope FM in Palatka on Thursday. -
Volunteers at Hope FM in Palatka pack backpacks that will be donated to Putnam County students. -
Positively Putnam FL
The first day of school for Putnam County students is just around the corner, and one local business gathered supplies for teachers and students who may need some help.
Beck Automotive Group backed up two truckloads worth of school supplies into the school district building parking lot Thursday morning. The truck beds were packed with colorful backpacks, notebooks, pencils and cleaning supplies.
“A lot of kids come the first day (of school) with supplies, but it’s throughout the year that we can replenish that,” said Sarajean McDaniel, the executive director of leadership development for the Putnam County School District.
“That takes so much off of our teachers. Teachers (spend) so much out-of-pocket all the time and they don’t have to do that with our businesses that donate like this.”
Employees at multiple Beck locations turned collecting school supplies into a competition to see which branch could collect the most materials, Beck employee Misty Guessford said.
She said the winning dealership would get free lunch or other incentives. She said all the boxes packed Thursday into the back of two pickup trucks were stocked full of supplies and the employees gathered everything that school district officials had listed on this year’s back-to-school supply list.
Wayne McClain, vice president of Beck Automotive Group, added that customers even donate school supplies for the cause. The supplies will be divided among local schools, district officials said.
“They are one of our best partners and really have supported us in a number of ways,” Superintendent Rick Surrency said about Beck. “These school supplies are really going to help a lot of our students who may not have the ability to buy the stuff to be able to start school.”
Beck Automotive Group was not the only group that gathered back-to-school supplies for Putnam students.
Local businesses also donated materials to Christian radio station 91.3 Hope FM this week. Radio station General Manager Robin Robinson called the back-to-school supply drive rewarding. The radio station employees managed to collect enough supplies to fill 365 backpacks, she added.
“It’s hard for teachers to teach if kids come with nothing,” Robinson said.
When the students have the supplies they need, the general manager said that makes it easier for teachers to teach and students to learn.
Radio station employees are donating all the supplies to each of the eight Putnam County elementary schools, and Robinson said they will finish donating the last of the supplies today to the remaining four schools they did not get to Thursday.
They also plan to collect money to buy socks and underwear to donate to the schools.
“There’s really a huge need,” Robinson said. “It’s really one of the most rewarding things we do all year long.”
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