|
 Anita Harrison coordinated the Fun Fair for Eminence
Christian Church. “We went all over the county asking businesses and
individuals to donate school supplies for students. We also were
pleased with the number of volunteers who have helped out, not just
church members, but people from all over,” she said. “We ask the
teachers at Olympia South exactly what their students will need when
they walk through the doors this term,” she added.
Donations included the backpacks as well as items to fill them. The
contents of each pack are tailored to the specific grade the student
is in. Pencils and the sharpeners to go with them, erasers, crayons,
colored pencils, glue, ballpoint pens, and more were divvied up for
a happy crowd of kids and their parents.
Volunteers filled the packs, cooked free hotdogs for everyone,
swirled paper funnels around the cotton candy machine, and filled
snow cones with ice and sweet syrup.
[to top of second column] |
Barbers and stylists from Atlanta and Lincoln volunteered their
time to give hair cuts to kids so they would look sharp on their first day of
school.
“We hope to add new items each year, and maybe add a dentist and
optometrist in the future to insure our community kids are ready to learn,” said
Angie Harrison. Eminence Church holds fund raisers during the year to finance
the fair including a French fry stand at the Atlanta Fall Festival, and a
spaghetti dinner at the church in March. They also received a grant from the
Atlanta Betterment Fund.
The first year of the Fun Fair, 63 backpacks were handed out filled with school
supplies. This year, 175 backpacks went out the door. There is no stronger
definition of community spirit as when Atlanta and Eminence Church come together
to support their young students.
[Curtis Fox] |
