JOPLIN, Mo. — Most students and teachers take the summer off, but that’s not the case for area Bright Futures organizations, case in point, Joplin.

Another school year is just about in the books in Joplin.

And as usual, it’s been a busy one for the Bright Futures program.

“We need new or like new tennis shoes, all sizes, cause the high school kids are full-size adults, you know, and we need shorts and T-shirts and pants always new or like new,” said Amanda Stone, Joplin Bright Futures Coordinator.

And there’s a reason for that need, considering what they gave out this school year.

“This school year we’ve given away over 600 T-shirts, we’ve given away up to 300 almost pairs of shorts, and so our shelves are kind of bare and so we need to stock those up to get ready for August,” said Stone.

Not to mention nearly 230 pairs of shoes.

And you can’t have a backpack program without, you guessed it, backpacks.

“School supplies, we always need sturdy backpacks, really good ones that last the whole school year, we need headphones, we gave away 800 pairs last school year, it’s a necessary school supply every student needs,” said Stone.

The last snack backpack giveaway will take place on the last day of school, on Thursday, this school year’s total is nearly 17 thousand, or a little more than 500 per week.

With that volume of items given away in one year, she says the public’s help is always welcome.

“Summer’s also a great time to have food drives for vacation Bible school, or your business or church, we can always use single-serve food items that little hands can open like cups of mac and cheese, Ramen, granola bars, apple sauce cups, Slim Jim Beef Sticks, small packages of shelf-stable food,” said Stone.