School supplies — the tools of learning: Please support students with pencils, pens, stability

HELPING homeless students be ready for the first day of class is an extraordinary endeavor. Project Cool for Back-to-School succeeds year after year. A backpack full of school supplies is a key part of that stable beginning.

Alison Eisinger, executive director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, sees the pattern repeat itself each fall: "School is an important source of stability for children who are coping with the daily uncertainties and chaos of homelessness."

Last year reader donations to the school supply drive of The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy helped Project Cool serve 1,950 homeless children in King County. They are part of families that became homeless because of job loss, domestic violence, illness and other reasons.

Generous donations help equip students with the tools of learning. Project Cool finds these grateful young people through 28 member agencies. They provide leadership, logistical help and volunteers to maximize the reach of contributions.

Every school kid wants to blend in, and for homeless students the feeling — the longing — is compounded by the turmoil in their young lives. With few possessions of their own, a new backpack filled with quality supplies is a powerful gift.

Reader contributions reach grateful families via three excellent agencies with broad, deep connections throughout the region: Hopelink, the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County, and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

Grateful students and relieved parents finding a measure of stability in a backpack full of school supplies.