Project Apple Tree, a charity offered through the Helping Hands Ministry of Belton, is hoping to provide approximately 840 students with school essentials for the upcoming academic year â a goal they hope to achieve with the communityâs assistance.
Belton ISD spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said this initiative, which benefits hundreds of students each year, first began 21 years ago.
âJeannette Kelley, a former school board member and elementary school principal in Belton ISD, started Project Apple Tree ⦠with the goal of ensuring that all students ⦠have a great first day of school,â Rudolph said.
Although Kelley died in April 2020, her vision of providing area children with school supplies, a backpack and new pair of shoes at the beginning of the academic year is still being carried out by a team of volunteers.