Chambersburg teen spends summer gathering school supplies for kids in need

Aailyah Reynolds isn't a teacher yet, but she is already stepping up to help low-income children in the area to get all the supplies they need to feel confident when they go back to school. 

The 17-year-old 2020 Chambersburg graduate is spending her second summer in a row putting together dozens of backpacks stuffed with school supplies. She will donate them to Franklin/Fulton Women in Need, for distribution to children who need them. 

Reynolds, who got a taste of teaching during a co-op program at Falling Spring Elementary School, said she hopes to get a classroom one day where she can create a safe space where students can learn and grow, especially if they don't have a great home life. 

"I want them to come into school and really love it. I want to make them feel like this is the place they want to be," she said. 

This backpack project is giving her a way to help less-fortunate students before she has even started pursuing her education degree at Penn State this fall. 

Ahead of starting this project last year, Reynolds thought back to her grade school days. She had everything she needed for school, but many of her peers did not. 

"I know how good it would feel as a kid to have new stuff. I wanted to help kids who couldn't get it," she said. 

So, she saved up the money she made while working at Bruster's Ice Cream and hit the stores in search of backpacks, pencils, crayons, notebooks and other school supplies. She filled each of the 30 backpacks, and gave them to WIN. All in all, she spent about $2,000 of her own money. 

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This year, Reynolds' goal is to put together 40 backpacks with school supplies - and not just plain backpacks, but ones featuring popular Disney, Marvel and other characters. Her mom and helper, Teresa Reynolds, said her daughter wanted to give the kids quality bags that they would be excited about. 

A GoFundMe campaign to support the effort has raised $125 as of Friday afternoon - $95 more than her 2019 campaign, which she said only gained donations from two friends. Her goal this year is $1,000. 

There was no question that Reynolds would take on the project again this year. 

"I felt like with everything going on and all the stress in the world, it would bring some positivity into somebody's day, some positivity into somebody's life," she said. 

Reynolds' passion for charity began growing in childhood. Her family regularly donated to clothing and Christmas toy drives and food banks. 

"I'm so proud of her for doing (this)," Teresa Reynolds said. "She's been wanting to be a teacher for a while. She's so passionate about kids having the right supplies and the right attitude and getting the right education and having a positive attitude to go back."

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.