Westmoreland Intermediate Unit sends 1,000 backpacks of supplies to students in Western Pa.

One thousand homeless students across Western Pennsylvania will be delivered some kindness next week courtesy of Westmoreland County.

Stuffed in each of 1,000 backpacks are toiletries, school supplies, a blanket and a note card asking the student to pay it forward. The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit collected about $25,000 worth of donations this year for the backpacks from community groups, schools and businesses in the county, according to intermediate unit Director Jason Conway.

“It’s going to spread (kindness) all throughout Western Pennsylvania, thanks to everyone’s efforts,” he said.

When the intermediate unit, based in Hempfield, asked for donations in January, a team-building backpack stuffing event was planned during a statewide conference in May at Seven Springs. But, when restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic caused that event to be canceled, intermediate unit employees had a lot of items on their hands and far less help, Conway said.

Christie Ridenour, executive confidential assistant at the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, handled coordinating, organizing and logging all of the donations in the beginning of the year. The community’s generosity was heartwarming, she said.

“There’s still a need, even though there’s a pandemic happening,” she said. “The amount of people and the types, it was all very inclusive and it was all very rewarding to see.”

Employees pitched in to help stuff bags the week of Oct. 19, led by receptionist Dee Petrie and Kathy Dull, technology and infrastructure records clerk. Conway, his wife and teenage son helped, as did Work Discovery students from Clairview School and other local districts. It was a positive distraction for employees, many of whom have been working partially remotely since the spring, Conway said.

Student homelessness is a pervasive issue, but the pandemic may have exacerbated an already precarious situation for some families, he said. The goings on of this year, including a presidential election, “kind of cemented the need for kindness to be the center focus of everything we do,” Conway said.

Nine intermediate units across Western Pennsylvania, stretching from Erie to Greene counties, each will get 110 backpacks. Conway and his son are planning a two-day road trip next week to deliver them.

The majority of the backpacks were purchased through a grant from DMJ Transportation, and blankets were donated by members of Rotary Club 7305. Extra supplies donated to the intermediate unit were passed on to Westmoreland Community Action in Greensburg.