2017 Orchard Place School Supply Drive Helps a Record 665 Kids August 27, 2017 Getting ready for the school year can be a chore for parents. It’s even harder for low income families. The days of going back to school with only pencils and a notebook of paper are long gone. An estimate from the annual Huntington Bank’s Backpack Index tells us that this year the supply list for elementary school students costs almost $650. The Orchard Place School Supply Drive is unique; each of the 665 students served this year received a new backpack filled with supplies that were requested from their school. This ensures each student served by the drive, goes to school with the tools needed to learn. Businesses that helped provide supplies include: Amerigroup Bankers Trust Barron Equipment Blaskovich LLC Continental Western Insurance Department of Human Services Homesteaders Life Hubbell Realty ITA Group Italian American Women of Iowa Josephs Jewelers Meredith Corp Miles Capital Oral Surgeons Pink Stew Entertainment Siegwerk USA Stroh Corporation Symetra The Principal Uncle Sam’s Childcare Unity Point Health Wal-Mart Wellmark Wells Fargo Zirous, Inc Volunteers who helped organize and fill backpacks for the drive included: ITA Group Bankers Trust McGill Junge Marsh/Mercer Two Rivers Marketing Wells Fargo The number of children served by the Orchard Place School Supply Drive has increased from 182 students served in 2013 to 665 this year.