Working families get a Back to School blessing

By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net

As the new school year draws near, many parents are feeling the financial pinch of securing all the necessary supplies their kids need for the classroom. The folks at Darlington’s Family Mission Center recently stages a “Back to School Blessing” event, which helped 100 students from working families get the year off to a great start.

Held August 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Family Mission Center on Wire Road, the event offered a helping hand to local pre-registered families who often fall through the cracks – those families where parents are employed, yet not making enough money to comfortably afford school supplies for their kids.

“We had brand new backpacks, brand new shoes donated by Calvary Tabernacle, and they also received a package of underwear and a package of socks,” says Tammy Robinson, Family Mission Center director. “Then the kids were able to walk through and fill their backpacks with items they needed according to their grade level. We had school supplies for kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade.”

Though the Back to School Blessing targeted kids from K5 through high school, they did provide supplies for several K3 students and young students with autism.

Free haircuts were available on site, provided by the Cutting Edge salon of Florence. If the child didn’t need a haircut just yet, they received a coupon for a free haircut from the Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology, which they could redeem as needed during the school year.
“As they exited, they were served lunch. There was a team of pastors that prayed over the families and each student for a successful school year,” says Robinson.

Before they departed, the kids received one last treat – free sno cones donated by High Hill Baptist Church.

Robinson says that this inaugural event was such a success that the Family Mission Center plans to do it again next year and hopefully help even more families.

“This is our first year doing the Back to School Blessing… we serviced 117 kids that day, and we’ve had other organizations contact us since then to help other kids with the school supplies we had left over. To date, we’ve helped 134 students, and we hope to service at least 200 students next year,” says Robinson, noting that the event would not have been possible without the generous support of local businesses, individuals, and church groups.

“What we did was ask people to sponsor a child for $30, and we had business owners that sponsored ten children. We also had many individuals who sponsored a child, so it was a community-wide event. I was amazed at the love and support that our community provided for these children, and we’ve had wonderful feedback from the families that were served,” says Robinson.

For more information about the Back to School Blessing and other upcoming events, visit the Family Mission Center’s Facebook page. They are located at 757 Wire Road in Darlington, phone 843-307-8876.

Author: Stephan Drew

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