Community Donates Supplies

Published September 11, 2008

Community members are pitching in to help out Williamson County students. Since the start of the 2008-2009 school year, the district has received hundreds of dollars worth of school supplies. Some of the donations were given by corporations such as Publix, while others came about through the generosity and kindness of local citizens.

Williamson County resident Jan Millen helped organize a donation drive in the Holly Tree Farms subdivision. She says the idea came to her after finishing up her degree in early childhood education. "I just thought there's got to be kids in Williamson County who really need school supplies," said Millen. So she

contacted the president of her homeowners' association and together they sent out a memo to every Holly Tree Farms resident asking for donations. Millen says she was excited to find such generosity among her neighbors. "We received everything from notebooks to pads of paper. We got glue, we got crayons, we got scissors... pretty much everything in terms of school supplies."

On August 28, Millen dropped off the supplies at the Williamson County Schools Central Office. She even enlisted the help of her neighbor, Deb Papiez, because she couldn't carry it all herself. Millen says despite the hard work, she feels good knowing that Williamson County students will benefit from the kindness of others. "Because Williamson County is such a good community, we often forget there are always children who sometimes need help."

Joe Zarcone, manager of the Cool Springs Publix, was also instrumental in providing school supplies. "We had some principals contact our office needing supplies for their students," says Communications Director Carol Birdsong. "We called on Joe and as always, he was willing to help. We loaded a van full with supplies donated by Publix shoppers."