ABOVE: D & S Trophies staff, from left: Sara Cyphers, Julie Ricard, Lori Kokoruda and Kelsey Deling stand behind the mountain of apparel they will be gifting to students in Martin County next week.

FAIRMONT– D & S Trophies & Embroidery just wrapped up its third year of gifting 100 students around Martin County an apparel package so that the students can proudly boast their school spirit.

Owner Sara Cyphers said, “We send out a letter to the school counselors at the end of October and they find families that they think could benefit from it.”

Students at the public schools in Martin County are eligible for the bundles. They have the option of either a T-shirt, sweatshirt and hat or a jacket and hat.

The first year the downtown Fairmont-based business offered the program, they gave away a max of 60 bundles.

“It had been so well-received that the second year we upped it to 100,” Cyphers said.

Fairmont Elementary School gets 20, Fairmont High School gets 20 (Cardinals), Granada-Huntley-East Chain gets 15 (Jaguars), Truman Public School gets 15 (Jaguars) and Martin County West Elementary School gets 15 and MCW high school also gets 15 (Mavericks).

D&S just gets a list of sizes needed from the school counselors, but no names.

“They’re working with the students so they know who has maybe never had a Cardinal shirt. We really don’t put a stipulation on it, it’s whoever they see fit,” Cyphers said. “It could be students doing wonderful things and they want to recognize them.”

Amy Becker, a counselor for the Fairmont Area School District, said that part of what the counselors strive to do is make students feel like they belong and part of that is showing off their school pride.

“It’s great when we know that there’s a family need that D & S can give students this gear,” Becker said.

She said that since the program started, she’s had students who benefitted from it comment to her on how excited they were to wear their apparel and feel more like they’re a part of school functions as a result. On a more serious level, she said the warm apparel definitely benefits some students.

“Meeting basic needs can be difficult for some families so it’s helpful in that realm as well,” Becker said.

Cyphers said once they get the information from all of the various school counselors, the staff at D & S spends at least an entire day getting the apparel ready and bagged up. They plan to deliver the goods to the schools next week.

She said she had some friends who are teachers and knows there’s a lot that staff at a school does to help students that you don’t always hear about.

“Yes we have great resources in our area for families, but it’s not always for the kids or the parents don’t take advantage of it,” Cyphers said.

Each packaged is worth about $75 so the $7,500 donation on behalf of D & S is no small gift, but something Cyphers and her staff enjoy doing and plan to continue.

“We started with 60 and have now been at 100. If there’s a way that we can give more, we’ll definitely try,” she said.