Students in 11 Tennessee Counties to Receive Free Backpacks this Upcoming School Year

School-aged students in eleven economically distressed counties across Tennessee will receive free backpacks courtesy of First Lady Maria Lee’s ‘Tennessee Serves’ initiative at the beginning of this upcoming school year.

To equip students with the tools needed to learn and succeed in the upcoming school year, Tennessee Serves has provided new backpacks to 10,000 students in school districts in TN’s distressed counties. Read more here: https://t.co/lV9VBIHOyL

— First Lady Maria Lee (@MariaLeeTN) July 25, 2023

Distressed counties, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), rank among the 10 percent most economically distressed counties in the nation. The number of economically distressed counties has recently reduced from eleven to eight in the state of Tennessee, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.

First Lady Lee’s initiative will provide free backpacks to every elementary, middle, and high school student in school districts in the following counties:

Bledsoe County
Clay County
Cocke County
Grundy County (no longer economically distressed)
Hancock County
Hardeman County
Lake County
Lauderdale County (no longer economically distressed)
Scott County
Morgan County (no longer economically distressed)
Perry County

“Equipping students with the tools necessary to learn and succeed is crucial—both in and out of the classroom,” Lee said in a statement. “It’s our hope these backpacks will play a small role in students’ educational experiences by helping them feel confident and empowered to accomplish their goals during the upcoming school year.”

The backpacks will be distributed by each school district at the beginning of the upcoming school year, according to Lee’s office.

Michelle DeBord-Rains, Coordinated School Health Director/Nursing Supervisor at Bledsoe County Schools commented on Lee’s initiative, saying, “Tennessee Serves has been so beneficial in past years to equip our students with the supplies they need. We are so grateful for the work they do and the smiles they bring to our students as we prepare for a new, exciting school year.”

Lee’s Tennessee Serves initiative has provided 16,180 new backpacks to students in the state’s distressed counties since 2021. This year, Lee’s office expects to hand out more than 10,000 backpacks across the eleven counties.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.