Marshfield Area United Way School Supply Drive Helps Community

Marshfield Tiger Football, Festival Foods Lend a Hand

Marshfield, WI (OnFocus) Marshfield Area United Way’s annual “Supplies 4 Success” school supply drive helps area families approach the coming school year with confidence.

Local businesses served as drop-off points for donations from July 29 until August 11. The drive is a coordinated effort between Marshfield Area United Way and the Marshfield Clinic’s Center for Community Advancement.

The Marshfield High School football team and Festival Foods volunteers sorted the donations at Washington Elementary on Tuesday.

“This used to take us days to get everything sorted, organized, and ready. When the football team started helping, they can get this done in less than two hours,” said Executive Director Ashley Winch.

About 450-475 children from Marshfield, Auburndale, Stratford, Spencer, and Pittsville will receive their supplies on Wednesday. Another drive next week will serve the Loyal, Granton, and Greenwood communities.

“It just really shows that when you work together things get done so much quicker,” said football player Ben Gust. “Relying on your teammates really shows that we can be a team together and win together.”

Coach Denny Goettl said the event is one of the ways the team can give back to the community that supports them.

“You can see the brand new stadium that’s going up in our community, which is tremendous,” he said. “We know that people are looking out for us and we’re going to try to give back as much as we can to help our community.”

Volunteers from Festival Foods help with the event every year. Getting involved in the community and supporting it is an important value to the business, said Holly Thomas, Front End Manager.

Festival Foods served as a drop-off point for donations, and she noticed that guests were excited to make a difference.

“Every little contribution helps,” she said.

Donations can be dropped off at the United Way office at 156 S Central Ave. to serve the Loyal, Granton, and Greenwood districts. Visit www.marshfieldareaunitedway.org/supplies-4-success for a list of supplies.

United Way Seeking Donations of School Supplies for Back-to-School Success