Reed Chevrolet donates school supplies for local students

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The back-to-school season is here, and one St. Joseph business is making sure students are ready and prepared for the new year.

Reed Chevrolet, for the past 10 years, has looked to support the community by handing out nearly 500 backpacks to local schools, each filled with supplies.

The dealership drops off the backpacks with the school district and allows them to hand out supplies to students who may need them.

Office Manager Katie Dodge sees this as a growing need every year.

"Every year, I think as I get older and see more needs, every year just becomes more important because we know that not all kids are getting what they need," said Dodge.

Chad Wempen recently became general manager and is now doing this for the first time. He sees this as something that gets his employees excited.

"The big thing is just the fact that our employees get behind it and get excited," said Wempen. "When we brought the pallets in here and everybody saw the school supplies, they knew it was that time to pack all the backpacks."

The backpacks will be delivered to the St. Joseph School District on Monday, Aug. 17, so that they will be ready for kids when school starts up on Aug. 25.