Families struggle to pay for school supplies but there are local resources to help

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – We’re days away from the start of the new year for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and a lot of local parents are still scrambling to get all the back to school essentials for their kids. The cost of school supplies is up and more people are in need of help.

Lawrence Williams has been standing in the sun for weeks near the Dollar Tree on Freedom Drive or the Walmart on Wilkinson Boulevard selling water to make money for school supplies. He and his wife Shavonne have nine kids.

“For all of them it’s shoes, clothing, they don’t like school lunch. So, you know, we’re going to be paying for them to bring their lunches to school, so those are some of our concerns right now,” Shavonne Williams said.

The family moved to Charlotte 12 years ago and costs have outpaced their earnings.

“We’ve seen the cost of things rise dramatically since being here and it’s difficult it’s a challenge,” Shavonne Williams said.

They aren’t alone, parents all the across the nation are paying more to fill lunchboxes and backpacks. The Consumer Price Index shows the cost of stationery is up 30% from 2021 to 2025.

New data from the National Retail Federation shows families with students in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of about $858 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics which is down about $17 dollars from 2024.

Kingdom Builders Church International is hosting a back to school giveaway to help offset some of those costs on August 13th from 12pm-2pm at 2352 Dr. Weber Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28216.

“There’s some anxiousness, some nervousness. What will I do? How can I do this? Where am I going to find this? And we don’t want them to have to make those choices if they don’t have to,” Sharon Caves, Co-Director of Outreach Ministries for Kingdom Builders Church International said.

Caves says thanks to community partners they can help lighten the load for some families.

“We have vendors, and we have family and church members that are partnering with us, and they’re the ones that have actually donated the backpacks and the school supplies,” Caves said.

C.W. Williams Community Health Center has hosted back to school bashes for more than a decade. Edana Holliday, Chief Compliance Officer and Pharmacy Director says the organization helped 1300 families in 2024 and in 2025, they’ve topped 2000 and counting.

“If we can help a parent by giving them school supplies for a child that takes a worry off of them now they can spend some time thinking about making sure they have their their physical or making sure that that mom gets that blood pressure checked,” Holliday said.

The Williams family hopes to make the money they need before the start of the school year.

“As long as it takes, we’re hard working and we love our children, that’s why we do it,” Lawrence Williams said.

There are several back to school supply giveaways in the Charlotte area over the next couple of weeks. Mecklenburg County Parks and Rec are hosting events at different Rec Centers across the area.