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Buffalo mom helps single parents fill backpacks

Posted at 5:38 AM, Aug 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-16 07:32:21-04

It's almost time to send your kids back to the school bus with their backpacks full of supplies...but stuffing that knapsack can get a little pricey.

According to a survey by Deloitte, back to school spending in the northeast is about $513 for families with children. That bill can sometimes be a hard one for parents, especially if they're single parents.

That's where Devona Shaw comes in. She's a mother of three and knows how expensive it can be to make sure each child has all the supplies they need to succeed in school. That's why she's started a collection to help children in her neighborhood that come from single-parent households get ready for school.

"Even if I don't have it, I believe in giving back. I believe everyone is here for a reason and a purpose and I don't want to miss my purpose," says Shaw. She and her three children have been posted outside of the WalMart on Transit Road in Williamsville, collecting school supplies and offering them to families who need them.

Shaw says this was a personal mission for her, a way to give back after she struggled to provide for her family after getting laid off a few years ago. She now has a steady job again and is fortunate enough to be able to provide the hundreds of dollars it costs to prepare her three kids to head back into the classroom.

Devona takes on this project all on her own. She says it's important to her to provide any struggling families and children in her Bailey-Kensington neighborhood all the tools to succeed in school. "I just want kids to see we can still help each other and no one is better than anybody," she says.

If you need supplies, know a teacher in a needy district that may need assistance or you want to contribute to her mission to help single-parent and struggling families, you can contact her at devinepurple@gmail.com or to her GoFundMe page.