Mary Katherine Murphy|Laurinburg Exchange School supplies including notebooks, loose paper, pencils, pens, and art supplies will be collected at Laurinburg's Walmart throughout the month of August.

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With the start of the new school year looming, Communities in Schools of Scotland County has teamed with Walmart to help poor students.

As part of the 2012 “Build A Backpack” school supply drive, all school supplies donated at the Laurinburg Walmart between July 23 and August 31 will be distributed among Scotland County’s public schools.

Communities in Schools is a nonprofit organization that targets students considered at risk to become high school dropouts and works with them from an early stage to empower them to set goals and stay in school. Of the students enrolled in the 44 Communities in Schools programs in North Carolina, 97 percent are considered economically disadvantaged.

Although the Scotland County chapter operates only at North Laurinburg Elementary and Carver Middle School, all of the county’s public schools will benefit from the Build A Backpack drive.

“Technically we only have Communities in Schools at North Laurinburg and Carver, but this is an event that will help all of the schools,” said Katie Clark, executive director of Communities in Schools of Scotland County. “Supplies will be given to guidance counselors and social workers at other schools and they’ll distribute them as needed.”

Bins will be available at Walmart to collect donated school supply items, and sales may be held during tax-free weekend to encourage shoppers to buy and donate extra supplies.

“Similar to last year, there will be bins where you can drop items off,” Clark said. “Last year, some of the sales associates even had items that you could even purchase at the counter.”

Statewide, donations will be taken in every Walmart store in North Carolina. The program will benefit schools in 79 counties, with CIS partnering with other nonprofits, including United Way, to distribute supplies in counties where there is no CIS program.

“We thank Walmart for its commitment to serve those most in need by launching such a massive and promising school supply campaign,” said Linda Harrill, president and CEO of Communities in Schools of North Carolina. “A small investment today in ‘Build A Backpack’ will pay a big dividend in the lives of students who need the essential tools that support their success in school.”