Dot Treadwell is a remarkable woman. She may not think so, but she is.

A woman of extremely limited means, Treadwell works to ensure that children in the Twin Cities who need school supplies get them. Regardless of their ability to pay.

School starts this week, and thousands of Maine children will board buses wearing the latest preteen and teen styles and toting new backpacks filled with notebooks, pricey calculators and other supplies necessary for the classroom. Many of those students will also be carting around iPods and other electronic gear that many children can only dream of possessing.

Unfortunately, too many Maine students will get on buses this week wearing hand-me-downs and carrying worn backpacks without adequate supplies inside.

Treadwell remembers being one of those children whose family couldn’t provide a backpack and she wants to spare others that painful experience.

Eight years ago, this Lewiston woman organized donations and a group of volunteers for the first schoolbag-and-supply giveaway hosted by the Downtown Neighborhood Association. At the time, donations were plentiful and volunteers were eager to help. The families who collected the goods were grateful for the gifts and the event was celebrated with a well-attended block party.

As the years went on, Treadwell received fewer donations and volunteers fell away. Worse, some of the families who lined up to receive the gifts were rude, profane and pushy. Treadwell, understandably so, felt that her generosity was starting to be seen as an entitlement and it just plain wore her down.

On Thursday and Friday last week, Treadwell passed out backpacks and supplies for what she says was the last time. As much as she enjoys the work and as necessary as it is for a lot of children, she just doesn’t feel she can face people being rude and ungrateful any more. We can’t blame her.

This woman, who can’t afford to own a car, manages to scrape together about $200 on her own to help buy supplies every year because she sincerely wants to help children. That’s more than a lot of families of more comfortable means ever bother to give.

After her story appeared in the Sun Journal on Friday, Shaw’s Supermarkets stepped forward to help Treadwell connect with Cradles to Crayons, an organization that Shaw’s partners with to provide supplies to students at Martel and Longley elementary schools. An anonymous donor also stepped forward to help sponsor next year’s event, if Treadwell can be convinced to continue her work.

We encourage others to offer help for this well-organized and worthy cause. And, we hope Treadwell is encouraged by the renewed interest in her giveaway and continues this effort because she does more than stuff backpacks with binders and pencils. Treadwell gives children what they really need: genuine interest in their well-being.

That’s a pretty good start to the school year for any child.