Districts U-46, 300 collect school supplies for needy students

Elgin Area School District U-46 and Community Unit District 300 will be collecting donations of backpacks and basic school supplies Saturday at the Wal-Mart in Elgin and Algonquin for students in need.

U-46 is partnering with Wal-Mart and United Way of Elgin for the "Fill the Bus" event. Volunteers will be accepting school supplies and cash donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elgin Wal-Mart, 1100 S. Randall Road. Supplies will go toward the fifth annual Project Backpack: Back to School Supply Fair held in August.

Wal-Mart also will place donation bins throughout its store at the end of the month to collect supplies.

District 300 volunteers will "Stuff the Bus" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Algonquin Wal-Mart, 1410 S. Randall Road, north of the Algonquin Commons. Donations also can be dropped off at any District 300 school. Supplies needed include: folders, notebooks, loose leaf/filler paper, pencils, black pens, scissors (gender-neutral colors), glue sticks, rulers, crayons and gender-neutral backpacks.