City of Albuquerque begins annual school supply drive

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Thousands of students will be returning to their classrooms in just a couple of weeks, but there are still many who are in need of school supplies.

Now, the City of Albuquerque is trying to lift that weight for many families.

“This is first and foremost a call to everyone in the metro to help provide school supplies for our kids,” said Mayor Tim Keller. 

The City of Albuquerque, alongside the Corporate Volunteer Council, is gathering supplies for the upcoming school year.

“School supplies have been a challenge in our community in a lot of ways. Number one: it gets expensive. It’s also really hard to do the shopping last minute because places run out of supplies,” said Keller. 

Keller says this leads to teachers having to pitch in.

“Often at Albuquerque Public Schools teachers have to spend their own money, literally their own money on school supplies,” Keller said. 

As a kickoff, the city received a $10,000 grant.

“Walmart, wonderfully, of course, is in this business. They’re giving us also though a $10,000 grant to help subsidize, and provide school supplies for families in need,” said Keller. 

19 community centers across Albuquerque will have boxes where you can donate school supplies.

“This sort of volunteer is work really goes a long way to making the start of the year so much smoother, and so much nicer for so many of our children,” said APS Superintendent Scott Elder. 

The school supply drive starts Monday, July 10 and goes until August 11.

To view community centers in Albuquerque that are accepting donations click here. For a list of suggested school supplies, click here.