VBT Clerk Leon Wright connects children with needed school supplies

Van Buren Township Clerk Leon Wright’s office recently conducted its ninth-annual community outreach program, which seeks to link children with needed school supplies.
He visited Tyler, Rawsonville, Savage, and Edgemont elementary schools, Haggerty Early Childhood Development Center, Owen Intermediate School and McBride Middle School.
Established by Clerk Wright, the program started as a coat donation drive and fundraiser that impacted a small, limited number of children and has grown into a yearly initiative that impacts families and their children throughout the township.
“Over the years, this program has raised money for a wide array of items for Van Buren Township-based families and children,” said Clerk Leon Wright. “This year, we considered the fact that schoolteachers often buy supplies out of their own pockets for their students and decided we would focus on making sure we would use donated funds to purchase markers, pens, pencils and various other classroom items. It really felt good to get these school supplies into the hands of these kids.”
A main catalyst for program growth has been the support of an ever-broadening list of community, business, and individual sponsors, he said. This year’s sponsors included US Ecology, Waste Management, McKenna & Associates, Belleville Square Holdings/Mark Canvasser, Atchinson Ford, Fischbeck Engineering, CMDA, Wade Trim Engineering, Michael Brown and Mary J. Lore, IBEX Insurance, Carlito Young, Trustee Kevin Martin, and Trustee Reggie Miller.
Clerk office staffers Brittany Beaudry and Donae Hubbard accompanied Wright as they made strategic visits to schools to drop off the supplies to happy students and faculty.
“So many amazing people are involved with this initiative,” said Wright. “Without the sponsors, the program would not be possible, and without my staff nothing would get done. We were able to raise $6,000 dollars through the sponsors this year, an all-time high. And my staff coordinated calling the schools, scheduling the orders and visits. I am so appreciative of everyone’s dedication and commitment to positively impacting the lives of these students.”
Clerk Wright said he sees more growth, expansion and even greater community engagement opportunities for the program moving forward.
“I would love to see this program grow into a mechanism that enables us to give back all year round,” said Wright. “It’s a wonderful venture that makes me feel good. We are well into the holiday season, and what better way to capture the spirit of the holidays than by giving back and making a difference. It feels great to be part of a solution and this program is one of the best things I’m blessed to be a part of because it solves problems and gets things done.”
To learn more about the clerk’s community outreach initiative, visit www.vanburen-mi.org .
Press release by Christopher Campbell
Van Buren Township
Communications Specialist