Several community agencies in Garden City will be distributing backpacks filled with school supplies on Thursday, July 24th, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Garfield Early Childhood Center, 121 West Walnut Street. The backpacks are for children who are in need of the school supplies to help give them a start to a successful school year. Families must provide proof of need such as paystub, free or reduced meals, TANF, or for the SNAP Program to receive a backpack.
The distribution of the backpacks is from the Stuff the Bus campaign that was recently held July 12th and 13th in the community. The campaign had school buses located at a number of retail businesses in Garden City and Holcomb.
School supplies collected for the backpacks include: glue sticks, white glue, large erasers highlighters, watercolor paints, plastic school boxes, scissors (kid-sized), 24-count crayons, #2 pencils, pens (blue and black ink), spiral notebooks (wide and college ruled), notebook paper (wide and college ruled), two-pocket folders (solid colored), dry erase markers, and white copy paper. Monetary donations were also collected at the Finney County United Way to help assist with buying supplies and filling of the backpacks.
The first day of school for Garden City Public School will be Wednesday, August 13th with a half-day orientation for students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, seventh grade, ninth and tenth grades and all students new to Garden City Public Schools. The first full day of school for Garden City Public Schools is Thursday, August 14, 2025, when all classes will be in session for the start of the 2025-26 school year.