Aug. 30—With school starting next week week, Edgewood Creamery has devoted all of its August purchases to funding back-to-school supplies for local students.

The ice cream shop will be distributing these school supplies on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 701 State Highway 755, Edgewood.

No purchase will be necessary to receive a backpack full of supplies. Also, with the purchase of a gift card up to $100, the creamery will match half its value in school supplies.

"We decided this could be something nice to give back and have a positive message by giving these school supplies to those who need it," said Louis Bono, owner of Edgewood Creamery. "We hope this can have significant impact, but we can always do more."

The creamery held its first school supplies drive last year, so the business could have more of a positive influence on the community, Bono said. They raised more than $2,000 within a month by themselves to spend on school supplies, Bono said.

This year, the business hopes to at least raise as much as the previous year since they will be working with other organizations who are funding a portion themselves, Bono said.

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"Overall, we are hoping for more and that is really the goal," Bono said.

A lot of the company's employees are heading back to school, too, Bono said.

"As the school year approaches, a lot of our employees are going back to school, so we are aware of how difficult that [purchasing school supplies] can be for high schoolers and even those going to college," Bono said.

Originally, the distribution date for these supplies was Aug. 20 but it was pushed back as more organizations came on board and they needed more time to organize. They did not expect this level of participation by other organizations, Bono said.

More information about the giveaway is on Edgewood Creamery's Facebook/Instagram pages @edgewoodcreamery.