LEWISTON — What looked like the theft Monday of school supplies headed for needy local children has turned out to be a “miscommunication.”
Joleen Bedard, executive director of the United Way of Androscoggin County, said Thursday that a representative of a Portland-based nonprofit agency that distributes backpacks full of school supplies to York County children mistakenly picked up the supplies that were being collected at the Auburn Big Lots store for the Androscoggin United Way’s backpack effort.
Bedard said her agency has been in touch with Ruth’s Reusable Resources, the organization that took the school supplies, and is working to get them returned.
“(They) picked up the supplies thinking it was for them,” Bedard said Thursday evening. Bedard said she didn’t blame anyone for the misunderstanding, but was hoping to get the school supplies back as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, after it was reported earlier this week that the supplies were believed stolen from where they were being collected at Big Lots, Bedard said her agency has received “an outpouring of generosity from the community,” including pledges and donations of money and supplies from businesses and individuals.
She said her agency has been trying to contact recent donors to thank them for their generosity and let them know that the missing supplies have been found.
Because of the new donations, Bedard said the agency anticipates being able to distribute 600 backpacks full of supplies, 50 more than originally planned.
“We have once again been touched by the generosity of our community,” Bedard said in a statement issued by the organization Thursday afternoon. “Thanks to our community, even without the supplies taken from Big Lots, local schoolchildren will have the supplies they need.”
A call to Ruth’s Reuseable Resources for comment early Thursday evening went unanswered.
The United Way’s annual campaign involves collecting backpacks with the help of various sources, including L.L. Bean, Auburn-Lewiston Rotary and the Walmart distribution center, and then filling them with supplies gathered with the help of donors and volunteers.
The backpacks are scheduled to be filled at United Way of Androscoggin County headquarters at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24.
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