The boxes were stacked high in the living room—sheets, towels, a comforter on sale, and a hamper balanced on top. It didn’t look like much, but to her, it meant everything.

As a parent, I was doing what so many of us do—trying to hold it all together. Making sure the bills were paid. Making sure there was food on the table. And somehow, making sure my daughter had what she needed to not just get to college—but to stay there.

That’s when I realized something important: Getting accepted is only the beginning.

What comes after—the small, everyday essentials—can become the very things that determine whether a student thrives or struggles. A set of sheets. Towels. A sense of comfort in a new, unfamiliar place. These aren’t luxuries… they’re necessities.

Out of that experience, the College Bound Dorm Essential Drive was born.

Through Ione Mobile Market, in partnership with Building Neighborhoods of Youngstown as our fiscal agent, we turned one family’s challenge into a community solution.

Now, five years later, what started in a living room has grown into a movement.

Each year, during Youth Day at the City of Youngstown’s Juneteenth Celebration, we place essential dorm items directly into the hands of graduating seniors who are stepping into a new chapter—committed to living on campus and building their future.

We’ve watched the impact unfold in real time:

Relief on parents’ faces.

Confidence in students’ eyes.

Hope restored in families who just needed a little support.

Because we believe this:

When a community invests in its youth, it invests in its own future.

We don’t just want students to leave—we want them to return.

With degrees. With skills. With purpose.

Ready to pour back into the very neighborhoods that lifted them up.

But there’s still more to do.

The need continues to grow—beyond bedding and towels—to include school supplies, room fees, and even gas cards to help students travel home and return to campus.

That’s where you come in

Your support—whether through in-kind donations, monetary gifts, or sponsorship—helps remove barriers and create environments where students can focus, succeed, and graduate.

Because comfort shouldn’t be a privilege, and success shouldn’t be determined by what a student can afford to bring with them.

Together, we can make sure every student not only gets to college…but has what they need to stay.

College Bound

Dorm Essentials Drive