As summer vacation ends and the new school year begins, many students begin flooding supermarkets and department stores to gather school supplies. However, in the ever-growing list of essentials, many students throughout the district find themselves in a bind unable to afford what teachers request for their classes. But one Bob Jones student’s project assisted numerous others with the essential school supplies for success in the classroom.

Madison Carmouche, a senior at Bob Jones, started the project with high hopes and a simple GoFundMe page with an end goal to be able to give supplies to the less fortunate.

Carmouche comes from a family of teachers. Both her mother and grandmother are teachers. She remembers seeing them purchasing extra supplies for those who could not afford it, so she knew she wanted to do the same.

She sought donations from anyone who was willing to help, but many the donations to the effort came from her family and family friends.

Once she collected enough money, she went and purchased all the school supplies her money could buy to be able to give to elementary schools in the district.

“Even though Madison City is thought of as a ‘rich district,’ there are still students within who need [school supplies],” Carmouche said. She added, “I would love to give to be able to do more backpacks to give to all grade levels, but I wanted to start with elementary schools.”

By the end of her project, Carmouche purchased enough supplies to fill 40 backpacks which were delivered to two elementary schools: Rainbow and Horizon, and that is just the start.

Carmouche stands behind the importance of “[making] sure young kids have a good foundation at school,” and making sure those kids do not have to worry about being “embarrassed” about not having the money to be able to get school supplies.

40 backpacks mean 40 students who could not afford school supplies this year now have them. 40 student’s parents have the burden of school supplies taken off of their shoulders. 40 students are now ready for their elementary education.

Carmouche says she wants to make her project a tradition: collecting money to be able to give back to those who need it most.