Thanks to FAN Fair, hosted by a local church, more than 50 Redmond School District students will have a coat to wear to school, 21 will have backpacks to carry their books in and 14 will have alarm clocks to help make sure they get to class on time.

The Emmaus Lutheran Mission Society works throughout the year to find items to donate to Family Access Network, a program that brings supplies to schools in Deschutes County and Prineville.

“They go at it all year long,” Emmaus Pastor David Poovey said. “They do some very shrewed shopping. I wouldn’t want to guess, in retail, how much all this is worth.”

The FAN advocates will bring clothes and school supplies back to the campuses they represent, where students in need will have access to them during the school year.

“They see, for instance, Johnny’s wearing flip-flops in the winter, and obviously can’t afford shoes,” said Karen Lane, ELMS president. “When a teacher sees that Johnny needs a pair of shoes, they go to the FAN advocate.”

ELMS members are able to buy thousands of items for relatively low costs because they wait to purchase them on sale, Lane said.

“All year long we buy them stuff,” she said. “In the winter, we buy summer stuff. In the summer, we buy winter stuff.”

Emmaus Lutheran first got involved with FANS in 2010, when church members were looking for a place to donate blankets they made, Lane said. She said they have brought in more and more donations each year.

Jennifer Summerton, a FAN advocate at John Tuck and Tom McCall elementaries, said the organization gets support from small and large businesses. But it appreciates help from volunteer groups like ELMS.

“They’re amazing,” she said. “They’ve been doing this a long time. As we’ve built the relationship with the church, they now ask us what we need most. We’ve been able to give them a list of the items we don’t get donated.”

The items ELMS gives to FAN are all new, Summerton said.

“A lot of times, people just give us things that are gently used,” she said. “A lot of kids have never had a brand new coat or a brand new backpack. They really help their self esteem and (the kids) start the year off right.”

The FAN program started in 1993 and helped 8,983 Deschutes County children during the 2015-16 school year, Summerton said. It was based on fulfilling the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.

“We basically help families get whatever they need to remove the obstacles of attending school,” she said.

Advocates represent each school in the Redmond district, Summerton said. They work together in case one of the schools needs an item that another has..

She also points out that donations made in Redmond stay in Redmond, unless the donor requests otherwise.

“If someone designates a specific school they want to donate to, we honor that,” Summerton said.

The FAN program is beneficial to everyone, said Kelli Wolford, an advocate with Tumalo Community School and Sage Elementary.

“It also frees up the teaches to do their jobs, and not worry about whether the students are OK,” she said. “It really is a win-win for the community.”

For more information on FAN, or to make a monetary donation, visit familyaccessnetwork.org.

Wolford makes sure to tell children that donors are the ones who provided the items for them.

“Little kids start realizing when they’re small that they can do that for someone in the future,” she said.

Lane collects handwritten notes from students, some written in Spanish, expressing their thanks for the clothes and school supplies FAN provides. A sample of some of them:

• Thank you very so much. I really needed shoes and my mom couldn’t get me any.

• I was struggling with the awkwardness of having inadequate clothes for a person of my age, 16 years old. I was told you were taking me shopping and I was so happy. Thank you for everything, I finally feel normal. And my dad really appreciates the bathroom supplies.

• Thank you for helping me with my glasses. Now I can see every thing better. It’s helping me with my school work.

Others write about how they can stay warm in their new coat or can listen to essential music on new headphones.

The ELMS program is completely funded by the congregation of about 50 people, Poovey said.

“This is one way to serve the community,” he said. “As we serve our community, we serve our lord.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com