With the first day of school just around the corner, Intermountain Healthcare is working to make sure children and teachers have what they need to start the school year off right.

For the third consecutive year during the month of July, Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT has asked its caregivers to donate pencils, paper, glue, markers, and crayons – all the necessary supplies for a child’s backpack and a teacher’s classroom.

Last year, the National Retail Federation reported families with children in elementary school through high school will spend about $850 on school supplies, an amount likely to increase this year due to inflation.

“Every child has a right to have all the tools they need for a successful school year,” said Brandon Jones, chair of Intermountain Medical Center’s Caregiver Advisory Council. “Teaming up with and helping our local school districts is just one of the many ways we can show our community that we care about them.”

As a Level I trauma center, Intermountain Medical Center serves the greater Salt Lake area including, Murray, Salt Lake City, Taylorsville, West Jordan, Magna, and West Valley City.

These cities support Murray School District, Salt Lake City School District, Granite School District, and Jordan School District which combined has over 100 elementary schools in need of supplies for their students.

Other Intermountain Healthcare hospitals in Utah – including Intermountain TOSH – The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, Alta View, Riverton, and Layton hospitals are also doing similar school supply drives for local schools and communities, while Orem Hospital is doing a food drive for schoolback pack programs.

B-roll video available upon request.

About Intermountain Healthcare

Based in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,800 employed physicians and advanced practice providers, a health plans division with more than one million members called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information, see Intermountain Healthcare.