Helping school kids

Edward Jones financial advisers in Sierra Vista, Ariz., have collected $10,000 in school supplies in their third annual…

Edward Jones financial advisers in Sierra Vista, Ariz., have collected $10,000 in school supplies in their third annual effort to help kids get ready to return to classrooms.

The four advisers, who started the school supply drive in 2010, each have school-age children and recognized the difficulties that families with three and four kids face this time of year — having to spend between $80 and $100 per child to buy the items on supply lists.

“With the economy today, a lot of families are hurting,” said Landon Spilsbury, one of the advisers. “We saw the need and asked our clients to step up, and they stepped up big.”

Their clients donated enough supplies this year to fill the need for paper, pencils, book covers, binders and other necessities at nine schools, and to fill backpacks for 10 kids who live at a local shelter for battered women.

This year’s donations topped last year’s hefty haul of $7,000 in supplies.

The advisers began the drive with a letter to clients last month, saying that each of their offices would be a drop-off point for school supplies.

Some people stopped by to make donations after shopping for their own kids’ supplies, Mr. Spilsbury said.

Sierra Vista, about 15 miles north of the Mexican border, is a town of about 30,000 people that abuts the Army’s Fort Huachuca. Many of its residents are military contractors and retirees.

The advisers’ next good deed will come in November, when they expect to help collect more than 50,000 pounds of food for the holidays.