On Friday, July 21, Richmond County school board member Ed Lowery, District 6 trustee, and friends hosted a back-to-school giveaway booth at Mayor Garnett Johnson’s monthly Food Truck Friday, where he greeted many families and gave them school supplies.
With materials donated by Rhodes Porter, Usher Union of Georgia and several other supporters, Lowery said he wanted to give back to people in the area with something they needed for their children.
“I have met with some friends and wanted to give back to the community, because it’s that time of the year and we’re getting ready for a fresh start with a new school year,” he said. “We just wanted to help the parents out with a little school supplies … just wanted to give back to the community out here in District 6 where we serve.”
Attending mother Belinda Jesse said exposing children to local charities and giveaway events were important for even those who might not currently be in need, because it prepared them for the reality that hard times will sometimes come, and that fact should not be something they are shameful of.
“I know a lot of people that are having a hard time right now, so I think this is important because it helps,” said Jesse. “When you grow up, you never know when you’re going to be the one on hard times, and you’re going to have to rely on something like this drive … you’re not always going to be on top, sometimes you fall – just like when COVID hit and there were a lot of suicides because people were losing jobs and businesses were closing. If this were to happen and my child, at least I know that he will grow up and think ‘momma said there would be days like this.’”
Understanding that many families struggle with purchasing much needed school supplies for their children, Lowery said he wanted them to feel acknowledged and encouraged.
“We need to make sure we are supporting our kids and being the voice for them, because they’re children and sometimes [adults] don’t listen to children,” said Lowery. “But if I can be a voice for them, and talk with them to think like them in order to help put a plan together to share with other board members – that would make an even bigger impact for all of us.”
With parents working one to two jobs, Lowery said he deeply sympathizes with the struggles inflation has caused many since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want them to know that someone else cares, and that somebody else took their time to think of them,” he said. “Our families are getting ready to send children back to school and I know that the cost of everything is rising … my friends and I are doing this together to help make sure that all our children have the basic supplies they need to be ready to learn on the first day of school.”
Richmond County’s Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw said he felt it was important to emphasize a sense of community, and feels Mayor Johnson is successfully achieving that goal by “exponentially” growing the monthly food truck event and allowing Lowery to join his efforts.
“I think it’s just wonderful … a community coming together in peace and harmony to give away school supplies,” he said. “I’ve run into a couple of my teachers already, and I’m happy to see them here. I just really think it’s the right tone for going back to school.”
As a retired educator with over 20 years of experience, Jasmine Sims, Chief of Staff and Human Resources for Mayor Johnson and the City of Augusta,
“I know what it is to be in these situations as a parent; something as simplistic as a bookbag or just having paper and a pencil to start the school year is very important,” she said. “We try to support them in any way we can, especially lower income families that have multiple kids – that’s a big feat not everyone is in a position to afford with inflation. For Mayor Johnson, because this is where he’s from and he knows what it’s like to be in situations where you don’t have enough, any way we can show initiative and support we’re there.”
With an estimated 38,000 students living in Richmond County, Sims also said that Johnson sees them as future additives to the area’s growing workforce.
“They are part of the economic development, so if we don’t take care of them in K-12 then how can we prepare them?” she said.
Since Biden announced Augusta would be a part of his workforce hub initiative, Sims said education and additional labor solutions have become a top priority for Mayor Johnson.
“We are really going to try and focus on creating workforce pipelines for our students starting in middle school and even earlier if we can, in order to let them understand all of the possibilities that are here,” she said. “We’re going to be diligently working on dual enrollment programs, and making sure we have the tools and training in place for the students to transition to these greater jobs that are coming.”
As attendees received their school bags from Lowery, many parents thought the combined initiative with the city and the supply drive was creating better opportunities for people in the community to be heard.
“Prices on everything are up and wages aren’t,” said parent Melinda Turner. “So this was nice of them, and it’s much needed. We need more of these legislators to get involved with the schools and everything else in the community.”
“The mayor strongly supports education. I strongly support education, because I’m committed to it,” said Lowery. “It’s important that our kids receive fantastic education.”
Several other local businesses and organizations will also be hosting back-to-school drives to help bridge this community gap for struggling families.
Below are a handful of more upcoming school supply giveaways:
- Starting at 10 a.m., on Sunday, July 22, Newspring Aiken, located at 1108 Cedar Lane, will throw a back-to-school drive.
- On Monday, July 22, beginning at 2 p.m., the Oasis Church at Hephzibah will host a giveaway at 2228 Highway 88.
- The Augusta Boxing Club, at 1929 Walton Way, will hold a school supply drive starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 29.
- Hosted at the Good Shepherd Baptist Church, located at 1714 Olive Rd, the SWAT Foundation’s giveaway will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 29.
