DOWAGIAC — Elementary schools in Dowagiac are asking community members to donate school supplies as the new school year begins.

All the Parent-Teacher Organizations of elementary schools in Dowagiac are hosting school supply drives to help supply teachers with additional supplies for the school year. There are bins dispersed throughout the city asking for popular items teachers will need to help support their students this coming school year.

McKenzie Collins, a member of the Patrick Hamilton Elementary PTO, helped place bins inside of Pizza Hut and Lifestyle Nutrition. The group also has created an Amazon wish list, which members posted on their Facebook page.

“It’s been ongoing,” Collins said. “We started it on Aug. 12 and are going to keep collecting until Sept. 6.”

Elementary schools will be collecting at the following locations:

• Patrick Hamilton Elementary — Pizza Hut, 55215 M-51 N., Dowagiac, and Lifestyle Nutrition, 56042 M-51 S., Dowagiac.

• Justus Gage Elementary — Deck the Halls, 202 S. Front St., Dowagiac.

• Kincheloe Elementary —269 Apparel, 113 W. Railroad St., Suite 1, Dowagiac.

• Sister Lakes Elementary — Front Street Salon, 111 S. Front St., Dowagiac.

This is the first year Patrick Hamilton Elementary decided to run a school supply drive after having discussed the idea in the past.

“We were kind of feeling our way through it,” Collins said. “All the different schools’ PTOs were putting their own spin on it. It’s kind of turned into a cool little thing.”

Patrick Hamilton PTO members said they started to get the word out about their school supply drive, and then other schools followed the idea. Justus Gage Elementary specifically started the Amazon Prime wish list, and Collins said the Patrick Hamilton PTO thought it was a great idea, so they created one too. Now, the schools are collaboratively working to help spread the word throughout the community.

“People want to help, and it’s nice to help any of the schools in the community,” said Collins, who has two children in Dowagiac Union Schools. 

Collins is also a teacher herself and most recently taught at a school district in South Bend, knows how important it is to supply the children at area schools with the items they need in order to succeed.

“I think teachers get a lot of supplies at the very beginning of the year,” Collins said. “As the year draws on, teachers start to run out. Supplies then have to come out of pocket, which for teachers, it’s kind of a hard thing.”

Collins said she personally goes through a large quantity of items, like expo markers and pencils, which are helpful for the kids with their daily assignments. She also encouraged people to donate Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer and other cleaning products since winter approaches quickly.

On Sept. 6, after the bins are picked up from their respective locations, they will be evenly distributed to elementary school teachers. The Sister Lakes Elementary PTO plans to collect supplies until Sept. 3 and distribute them the first week of school.

The PTOs at the elementary schools have worked together in the past on events, including the Chieftain Walk-a-Thon.

“We have gotten ideas from each other and done our own individual things,” Collins said. “We are all willing to work together because it’s for the good of our whole community.”

Collins said she would encourage community members to participate because all of the supplies are given directly to the teachers.

“Other fundraisers throughout the year can get expensive, and maybe the school doesn’t get such a good percentage of whatever is made,” Collins said. “This is going directly to our schools, and you can even pick your school of choice. We are just trying to help the teachers out. They do so much.”