With the school year looming, the Island’s Seventh-day Adventists had their hands full over Labour Day holiday giving out school supplies to needy families.The church’s Community Services Federation has seen an increase in the number of parents struggling to make ends meet — giving out 200 school backpacks in the run-up to school, up from about 140 packets of school supplies handed out last year.“We gave out more in terms of numbers this year,” federation president Dora Baker said after the group’s Sunday giveaway.“We see a lot in the area of single mothers, particularly in the East End. Here in St David’s we have the Government emergency housing where most residents are single mothers with their children. Because some of them have younger children, they’re not able to work. They’re the population in greatest need.”Precise numbers of families are difficult to estimate, since demand is based on the number of children.However, asked if the need was rising, she said: “There’s definitely more.”Adventists gave out school supplies in St George’s on August 18, and again on Sunday at their Somerset Church on Beacon Hill.Explained Ms Baker: “We try to attend to the needs of people in the community, not just church members — there are those who come to us for various reasons, such as clothing and food.”Unemployment has become a major driver of financial pressure in Bermuda, she said.“But also there is the ability to be employed,” Ms Baker added. “Some of them are not qualified enough. They’ve been doing jobs like being a supermarket cashier or bag packer; some have worked in hotels in housekeeping. Others worked in security and those types of jobs. They don’t really have the educational level that they need to be employed.“That’s why we have developed, especially in the East End, a GED programme where we invite them to attend classes. The only thing they’re required to pay for is the examination itself, which they pay directly to the organising office. We feel that is the greatest need — mothers who are not educated and cannot get a reasonable job.”The Adventists maintain a clothing drive collecting school uniforms, as well as ongoing food programmes — and Ms Baker and her husband Charles were also busy yesterday giving out free health screenings to around 40 people in the Bermuda Industrial Union hall at Hamilton’s Union Square, where the Labour Day Parade set out.The church giveaways are managed by Pastor Howard Ebbin, Director for Adventist Community Services in Bermuda.Ms Baker thanked also Butterfield & Vallis, BGA Wholesale Distributors and FIL Limited for their support.To get in touch for assistance, contact the church’s administrative offices at 292-4110.