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Portsmouth nonprofit gets head start on upcoming academic year by collecting supplies for local schools

Posted at 8:48 PM, Jan 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-25 20:48:52-05

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – There’s still quite some time before the back-to-school season gets underway, but one local nonprofit took action to make sure a handful of schools in Hampton Roads have everything they need.

Friday morning, Mercy Drops Dream Center headed to three local schools to drop off school supplies.

One of the center’s missions is to find a need and fill it. While stocking up on school supplies is a big deal in September, come January, most of those supplies have been depleted. Then it’s up to the teachers to make sure that their classrooms are still stocked.

The kind folks at Mercy Drops wanted to make sure that the teachers and students know that they haven’t been forgotten.

Some of the center’s leaders went to Mt. Hermon Preschool Center in Portsmouth, Camelot Elementary School in Chesapeake and Fairfield Elementary School in Virginia Beach. Fairfield Elementary partnered with Mercy Drops to collect and donate supplies for Hurricane Florence relief.

A representative from Ashley Stewart, one of the local businesses that heard about Mercy Drops’ initiative, partnered with the center for Friday’s event.

Community Church also donated dozens of backpacks to make sure students have something sturdy to carry all their supplies.

Chief Dream Officer Joe Friszolowski founded Mercy Drops Dream Center more than seven years ago. Since then, the nonprofit has built a strong relationship with the City of Portsmouth.

In December, Mercy Drops threw three Christmas parties for under-resourced neighborhoods as part of its “Christmas in Portsmouth” extravaganza.

Click here to learn more about Mercy Drops Dream Center.