Union County, NJ – High schools throughout Union County have banded together to help students in need, by collecting and distributing donated school supplies. The campaign, called “Donate to Educate” – Schools Supplying Schools, was created by a group of high school students in the second annual UC STEP summit, held last year.
UC STEP (the Union County Student Training and Enrichment Program) is a daylong summit that brings high school sophomores and juniors together from all walks of life, to practice leadership skills and develop civic projects that engage the whole Union County community.
“In the first annual UC STEP our students set a high bar, and I’d like to thank this year’s participants for coming through with another worthy project,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed Jalloh.
Throughout the spring, students at participating high schools will be hard at work, organizing activities to publicize Donate to Educate, and encourage donations. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Union County are also partnering in the campaign.
Along with school supplies, financial donations are part of the campaign. The students will be selling Donate to Educate stylus pens, ear buds, and wristbands to help raise funds to purchase school supplies.
“UC STEP provides a way for young people from different parts of Union County to work together as a team, and pull the whole community together with them,” said Freeholder Linda Carter, who developed UC STEP as Chairman in 2013. “It is a tremendous learning opportunity for the students and for all of us.”
The high schools participating so far are: Academy for Performing Arts, Academy for Allied Health Sciences (both part of the UC Vo-Tech school district), Arthur L. Johnson, Barack Obama Green Charter, Cranford, Governor Livingston, Jonathon Dayton, Linden, Plainfield, Roselle Catholic, Summit, UC TEAMS, Union, and Union Catholic.
Each school has a drop-off box for Donate to Educate donations. Drop-off boxes are also located at the County Administration Building and other locations throughout the county.
To find the drop-off box closest to you, visit the interactive map at ucnj2.org/uc-step.
To participate as a high school or business, or to make a financial donation please contact UC-STEP by email at ucstep@ucnj.org or call Deana Mesaros, 908-659-7412. More information about UC-STEP is available at ucnj2.org.
# #
Please join the County of Union online at ucnj.org, on Facebook at ucnj.org/facebook, and on Twitter at twitter.com/countyofunionnj.