Editor,

Readiness To Learn would like to take this opportunity to thank its many supporters of the Back To School Program in Coupeville.

Shelli Turnbull lead the Soroptomists of Coupeville in raising a substantial amount of funds, backpacks and items to help supply students with backpacks and school materials for their first day of school.

Shelli received wonderful support from Ken Hofkamp and his staff at the Prairie Center Red Apple in collecting donations. Amy McShane and the board of Harbor Haven with proceeds from The New Beginning Thrift Store made a donation that helped immensely in serving the students. Camber Christian, the Missions and Outreach Coordinator of the Oak Harbor Living Faith Christian Center, organized a supply drive that garnered numerous stylish backpacks as well as boxes of needed items. The Whidbey General Hospital Employee Council should also be appreciated for promoting a backpack school supply drive that gathered many new backpacks and school materials.

We would like to offer our gratitude to the Coupeville branch of Whidbey Island Bank, Cascade Insurance, the Coupeville Coffee and Bistro and the Methodist Church for giving space in their business for the collection drop boxes. We want to thank the many other generous individuals that donated to the drop boxes located throughout the community as well as those charitable people that sent checks for the binders, compositions books, pencils, paper, calculators, markers, colored pencils, scissors and pencil boxes as well as many other items.

With your support we were able to serve 95 Coupeville students. We continue to offer supplies throughout the year to the homeless students as well as to newly enrolled children. On the first day of classes, there were many smiling faces thanks to the wonderful caring support of our community.

Mary Michell

Coupeville Transition Specialist

Readiness to Learn