Back-To-School Drive Supports Naugatuck Youth Services

By Rachel Ettlinger, Patch Editor

Student Transportation America, which is Naugatuck’s school transportation provider, will sponsor a back-to-school drive to support local Naugatuck Youth Services, according to event organizer, Krizti Marin.

Marin said the goal of the event is to provide children of the borough with much needed school supplies, such as backpacks, writing utensils and more, to better equip students returning to school in the fall, no matter their circumstances.

The event will take place at the Naugatuck Walmart, 1100 New Haven Rd., on Aug. 2 at 9 a.m.

“...Being a school bus driver, I see firsthand some kids just don’t have the proper back-to-school supplies,” Marin said. “It’s a difficult time to me and I felt it was time to give back to my community.”

Marin and her co-worker Jessica Wyman have worked together to organize this event. Marin said her and Weinman are both single mothers who understand the difficulty of supplying their children with their back-to-school needs.

“We are just two young girls on a mission, both seeing how difficult it is, being single mothers, to supply back-to-school supplies for our own children in the past,” Marin said. “I think if I can help take some of the burden off a few families in our town, my mission has been accomplished.”

The Naugatuck bus company also hosts an annual Thanksgiving Stuff-A-Bus drive at the same Walmart that has been successful in the past, according to Marin.

All donations received at the back-to-school drive will go directly to Naugatuck Youth Services, Marin said. For every donation received, the donor will receive a raffle ticket, and a raffle will be held at the end of the early August event, where prizes purchased by Marin herself will be given out.

Naugatuck Youth Services is a non-profit community organization that provides community programming opportunities for the borough’s youth, teens and young adults, according to their Facebook page. Their current program schedule includes a juvenile review board, local prevention council and youth leadership development.