Des Plaines Optimist Club delivers on back-to-school supply drive

The Des Plaines Optimist Club delivered a SUV-size load of brand new school supplies to Plainfield Elementary School on Wednesday, September 14. It took eight students, the school custodian, and Principal Ruiz, to help Optimist Club Members Chris and Zack Ladner to unload the cases of school supplies: boxes of pens, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, glue, rulers, notebook paper, spiral notebooks, folders, composition notebooks, three ring binders, pencil cases, compasses, protractors, and back packs. The supplies will be distributed to children, across District 62, who were unable to afford all the items on their back to school lists.

This is the second annual school supply drive for the Optimist Club. Efforts began earlier this summer when Club members placed big yellow buckets with signs in multiple locations around town including the Des Plaines Public Library, The Des Plaines Park District, local businesses and banks. “Supply lists get longer every year and families are asked to contribute more and more,” said Chris Ladner. “In this economy, it is difficult for parents to afford new supplies for all their children. We thought everyone deserves to get off to the right start with the right supplies,” he said. “The Club put the word out to our members, families, and friends who all stepped up to meet the needs of our community's children. We were also very fortunate that Runco Office Supply, Alpha Graphics, Express Auto, First Merit Bank, Millennium Bank, the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce, the Des Plaines Public Library, the Des Plaines Park District, and Norbert Pool in Niles donated generously to our drive,” Ladner said.

The Des Plaines Optimist Club sponsored free Friday Night Movies in the Park this past summer, as well as a kite fly, a fishing derby, their annual youth golf outing, and Fall Fest Family festival and marketplace. Optimist Clubs worldwide see a need in their community and react to it. The Optimists conduct 65,000 community service projects each year, spending $78 million in their communities. Six million kids are positively affected by Optimist programs, and the students in District 62 can again count themselves among them. Please support the Des Plaines Optimist Club's efforts by purchasing your fresh Christmas tree, wreath, and garland, at the annual December Sale, held at Lake Park on Lee Street at Fargo.