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The 2013 Witness to the Host City at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference will benefit Classroom Central, an organization that distributes free school supplies in the host city of Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\nThe 2013 Witness to the Host City at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference will benefit Classroom Central, an organization that distributes free school supplies in the host city of Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing last year\u2019s overwhelmingly successful drive to bring school supplies for St. Louis schools in need, we will again be collecting school supplies this year for Classroom Central in Charlotte,\u201d said an announcement from the Conference Office.<\/p>\n
The mission of Classroom Central, which got its start through a team of local business leaders in 2000, is to equip students living in poverty to effectively learn by collecting and distributing free school supplies. It functions as a free store for teachers, and is characterized as an \u201cinvaluable resource\u201d for area students and classrooms. The vision of the organization includes ensuring that all children living in poverty have all the tools they need to not only learn but to succeed. \u201cWhen equipped with the proper supplies, we believe there\u2019s no limit to what children can achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Classroom Central serves high-poverty schools in six school districts: Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Gaston, Iredell-Statesville, Union, Kannapolis, and Lancaster. All materials distributed are given to students who do not have basic school supplies. Last year Classroom Central distributed more than 379,000 pens, 632,000 pencils, and 67,000 one-subject notebooks.<\/p>\n
The Annual Conference officers are asking each Conference-goer to bring one or more of the following suggested items to keep the program well stocked:<\/strong> The items will be collected during the Sunday afternoon worship at the Conference, on June 30, and will be presented to the executive director of Classroom Central in front of the Conference at the close of business on Tuesday afternoon July 2.<\/p>\n
\n— pens (one package)
\n— pencils (two packages)
\n— crayons (24 count box)
\n— erasers (8-count)
\n— markers (one package)
\n— back pack (gender-neutral in color)<\/p>\n