Sue Burge is in the beginning stages of kicking off the 2014 “Set for Success” campaign.

This will be the third year she has rallied to help area elementary school students get all the supplies they'll need for a successful and productive school year — from pencils and pens to backpacks to new shoes and haircuts.

Burge said that after moving to Boothbay from Massachusetts 10 years ago, the idea of helping kids in need with school supplies had been “rattling around in her head” for a while before she approached Kitt Sherrill with her idea for a back-to-school program.

She said Sherrill thought it was a great idea, and suggested she present her idea to Boothbay Region Community Resources. “It felt like something that would feed my soul,” she said.

BRCR adopted the plan immediately, and Burge has been building on the program ever since.

For the past two years, the program has been tremendously successful, supplying some 300 children with many of the essentials they need in the classroom.

According to Burge, many local and some not-so-local businesses have contributed to the cause over the past three years. She said last year Big Al's donated school supplies, including thousands of pencils and rulers, and contributed backpacks at a “ridiculously low price.”

There were backpacks from L.L. Bean and shoes from Lamey Wellahan. For $25, NextGen added $225 toward a matching grant fund, to total $250; and the Harold Alfond College Scholarship fund offered scholarship grant opportunities. There were free eye and dentist exams.

And Boothbay Harbor’s Hannaford provided enough food for 500 people.

Burge said she will be connecting with businesses, asking for donations toward of the supplies for this year's event.

On Sunday, July 13, community churches will be participating in a “Back to School Mission Outreach Sunday.” People are invited to bring school supplies or monetary donations, which will in turn be taken to the YMCA for the event. Twelve churches are expected to participate.

The event this year will be held in the Boothbay Harbor YMCA Field House on Sunday, August 17 starting at 1 p.m. Each student, accompanied by a parent or guardian, will check in at the Welcome Table where volunteers will be handing out their “shopping lists.” Backpacks for pre-K through first grade will be pre-packed for the students to choose.

After completing their shopping, any kids who want back-to-school haircuts will get them, free, and professional manicurists will be on hand to paint girls' nails.

There will be healthy snacks, fresh fruit and beverages provided by Hannaford, and booths will be set up to hand out different helpful information for families. The Lions Club will be on hand with their mobile eye testing machine, and Dr. Clarkson and his team will be offering dental health advice.

FAME (Finance Authority of Maine) will be available to help parents with decisions about a NextGen matching grant for their children. There will be gifts of history magazines from local publisher Charles Baker.

Larry Brown, a Boothbay police school officer, will be present to help out, and possibly fire department/EMT volunteers, and someone from the library.

Also in attendance will be people from the Rotary, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, LincolnHealth and Coastal Maine Popcorn.

The First National Bank of Damariscotta will have a donation tub for people to drop off school supplies, and the Bank of Maine will be accepting school supplies at the Boothbay Harbor branch. Lists of needs will be posted at the donation site.

According to Burge, immediate needs are: backpacks, new or like new; 3-ring binders, one-inch, one-and-a-half-inch and 2-inch; watercolors with brush; Fiskar scissors; 3-hole punched lined white paper; 5-count 3-ring dividers; ballpoint black or blue ink pens; Ticonderoga pencils, Crayola crayons, colored pencils, colored markers, glue sticks, Elmer's School Glue, pencil boxes, 8-count 3-ring dividers, hand sanitizer, AA batteries, AAA batteries, and ZipLock bags: sandwich, quart and gallon-size boxes.

Burge said that the success of the program has been due in large part to the people in the area. “We're blessed to have the kind of community we have,” she said. “There are so many giving people, and this is a way to bring them together. Without the community support it would be nothing.”

She wanted to extend a special thanks Meagan and Andy Hamblett for their generous offer to hold the event in the Marylouise Tandy Cowan Field House. “We couldn't hold something like this without their support.”

Hairdressers are urged to consider volunteering their services for the event this summer. “Our hairdressers are so valuable to these kids and we could use more,” Burge said. Over 300 children will be walking through that door.”

Anyone who has supplies to donate is asked to call Burge at 207-633-7049. Money donations should be made out to BRCR/Congregational Church, (Set For Success on memo line) and mailed to BRCR, c/o Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, P.O. Box 468, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538, Attn: Carol Osterman.

Burge urges people to help in this very worthwhile cause. “We want every kid to return to school on a level playing field,” Burge said.