More than a notebook

In the middle of summer, the coming expenses of a new school year already weigh heavily on parents.

No one knows better than Hopelink, which expects more than 1,900 requests for help with school supplies. Hopelink operates six emergency-service centers in North and East King County.

Generous readers have helped the agency meet those demands in the past through the school-supply drive of The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy. Hopelink knows the territory, which includes the Eastside, "where poverty, although very real, is often so invisible."

The school-supply campaign of this editorial page is one of many efforts to provide low-income students with the tools of learning necessary for a successful academic year. If your community group has a similar program that we might acknowledge, please let us know.

Contributions to our school-supply campaign through the 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 organize the distribution of age-appropriate school supplies.

Every adult carries flickering memories of their school days and the intense pressure to fit in and not stand out.

Helping young students arrive for class equipped to learn does more than help struggling families stretch their budgets. Such is the power of a fresh box of crayons and a notebook full of paper.

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/debit card, e-mail pdelaney@seattletimes.com for details.