North Hills charity kicks off annual drive to collect school supplies for needy children

A North Hills charitable organization has kicked off its annual summer drive to collect school supplies for needy children.

North Hills Community Outreach needs new backpacks and supplies for hundreds of local children in preschool through high school who cannot afford to buy the items. Gift cards that can be used to buy school clothes also are needed.

“Most students will be returning to school this fall after a very difficult 2020-21 school year,” said Jeff Geissler, NHCO’s communications coordinator. “We want to make sure the clients we serve have the supplies they need to learn and study. Donations to this project will help enrich their school and educational experience.”

The school supply drive runs through Aug. 6. Last year, 1,164 children from 222 families in the North Hills received new items for school.

Donations can be dropped off weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at any of NHCO’s three offices.

The main office is located at 1975 Ferguson Road in Allison Park. There also is an office in the Millvale Community Center at 416 Lincoln Ave., 2nd floor. The North Boroughs office is located in Greenstone Methodist Church, 939 California Ave. in Pittsburgh’s North Side.

The Allison Park site also accepts donations on the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon.

Items also can be purchased from the organization’s Amazon “wish list” for direct delivery to the NHCO main office.

In addition to backpacks, the supply list includes:

• Notebooks

• Binders

• 24-pack crayons

• Loose-leaf paper

• Pocket folders

• Pencils and pens

• Mechanical pencils

• Colored pencils

• Pencil boxes/cases

• Pencil sharpeners

• Highlighters

• Markers

• Glue sticks

• Rulers

• Scissors

• Erasers

• Calculators

• New or gently used graphing calculators for advanced high school science and math