The tools of learning | Dignity in a backpack

All the numbers are big. For leaders of "Project Cool for Back to School" to equip hundreds of homeless children with school supplies, they truly have to buy in bulk.

Summer is barely under way, and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness has already received requests for more than 1,800 backpacks stuffed with the tools of learning. This is not a wild guess about the need. Last year, Project Cool provided school supplies to 1,700 children between the ages of 4 and 18. The homeless coalition works with 36 agencies operating 42 emergency shelter and transitional housing programs around King County.

The first day of school is always stressful, but imagine how those feelings are magnified for anxious young students worried about showing up empty-handed. Project Cool fully understands that its mission is to allow "homeless students to return to school with dignity and promise, without the stigma associated with homelessness."

Generous readers are asked to share in the experience of making a difference in young lives — dignity in a full backpack.

Contributions to our school-supplies campaign through The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy are divided among three excellent agencies: Hopelink, the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County. They purchase and or-ganize the distribution of age-appropriate school supplies.

Readers are invited to send a donation to: The School Supply Drive of The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy, P.O. Box C-11025, Seattle, WA 98111. For donations via credit card, e-mail pdelaney@seattletimes.com for details.