Sterling’s Twin Cities Farmers Market site of Saturday’s communitywide school supply drive

STERLING – Regional Office of Education No. 47 is teaming up with the Sterling Fire Department to host a community school supply drive June 21 at the Twin Cities Farmers Market in Sterling.

The event supported ROE 47’s School Supply Closet, a vital resource for students in Ogle, Lee, and Whiteside counties. The supply drive is part of an ongoing effort to ensure that every student in the Tri-County area has the tools they need to succeed when school resumes in the fall.

“Three years ago, in June, the ROE took over Grandma Bonnie’s School Supply Closet,” said Tabatha Behrens, an attendant support specialist with ROE 47. “Originally, for the last 14 years, it was with Trinity Methodist Church. They since have closed. So we took over the drive because we didn’t want the resources in our area to close.”

Behrens said the event focused on collecting the following items: two-pocket folders, markers, crayons, colored pencils, dry-erase markers, highlighters, pens (blue and black), wide-ruled notebooks 2-inch zip binders and monetary donations.

“We’re kind of switching what we’re doing,” Behrens said. “This year, we’re doing a giveaway event on July 31 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and then from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Elevate Youth Center in Sterling.”

The July 31 giveaway will be open to students from the three counties the ROE serves.

Additional smaller events are planned at other locations.

“Last year at this type of event, we gave away 1,200 bags, ranging from kindergarten to high school,” ROE 47 support specialist Kayla Brown said, emphasizing the year-round nature of their mission.

“We’re aiming to help at least 1,500 students with this event,” Brown said. “We can always accept donations any time of the year. We have our School Supply Closet at the ROE, so we’re always stocking it. … If anybody needed supplies during the year, we could also pass them out during the year, as well.”

There are no eligibility requirements for the ROE’s School Supply Closet or the July 31 event beyond being a student living in Ogle, Lee or Whiteside counties.

The fire department not only helped host Saturday’s event but contributed its resources.

“Tabatha’s husband is a firefighter here at the department. He will be on shift that day, so that’s helpful,” SFD administrative assistant Angelica Dornes said.

To help draw more community members to the drive, the department promoted its Community Connect program and hosted a free smoke detector giveaway.

“We’re supportive of what they’re doing for our community,” Sterling Fire Chief David Northcutt said.

Sterling Community Connect is a software program from the parent company First Due. Northcutt said it allows residents to share important information about their homes and businesses with their local fire departments, such as how many people and pets live in the home or building, utility shutoff and Knox Box locations, and contact information.

Sharing information is voluntary and easy. Sterling residents can create their Community Connect profile at communityconnect.io/info/il-sterling and provide whatever information they would like. According to First Due, that information is never used for any other purpose, and all logins and passwords are protected with bank-level encryption and security.

For information about school supplies, email Behrens at tbehrens@roe47.org or Brown at kbrown@roe47.org. You also can call them at the ROE 47 office at 815-625-1495.