The need exists everywhere to fill backpacks with school supplies for the coming year

ECONOMIC downturns have no respect for stereotypes. Easy assumptions based on geography do not match up to the reality of difficult times. Ask the people at Hopelink, who serve a crescent of communities around Lake Washington.

Looking ahead to fall, the agency already expects to help nearly 2,000 students from low-income families to be ready for class. Hopelink has programs and emergency service centers in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Northshore, Snoqualmie Valley and Shoreline.

Reader contributions to the school-supply drive of The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy help power Hopelink's distribution of backpacks, dictionaries, notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, folders and binders — among other supplies — to local kids from low-income families.

Along with supporting the fine work of Hopelink, contributions will be shared with two other excellent agencies, the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

Together they reach a broad swath of the region with volunteer-fueled efforts to return students to class ready to learn with grade-appropriate school supplies. These agencies know the need exists where some might least expect it.