Back to school events to be consolidated

Published 1:00 pm Monday, June 4, 2018

VALDOSTA — Sometimes, too many options can be a bad thing.

That’s why the City of Valdosta Neighborhood Development will host a one-stop shop, Aug. 4, for any student inside Lowndes County in need of free back-to-school supplies.

Sarah Lowe, coordinator, said Neighborhood Development, along with representatives from other local organizations, will host the Valdosta/Lowndes County Back-to-School Community Block Party at Drexel Park. 

Lowe said the event will be a collaboration between organizations that usually host their own back-to-school events in the hopes to limit wasted resources and prevent fraud. 

“We don’t want to have people take advantage of the system and the charity that people do contribute to,” Lowe said. “This is the only way we know how to make it as controlled as possible.”

Officer Darrell Lester with the Valdosta Police Department has attended many of the events and said he sees the same families at each of them collecting school supplies.

“You would like to think that it wouldn’t happen, but you’re talking about one child getting enough supplies for five years when that means other children aren’t getting it,” Lester said. 

Lowe said students will be registered ahead of the event. They will pick out school supplies and leave them with organizers at the event. Organizers will then be responsible for getting the items to the students’ respective schools.

Neighborhood Development has teamed up with school systems and has about 200 students already registered. Lowe said students can be registered at the door. Home-schooled students will also be accepted, organizers said.

“We’ve been talking with schools and they are fully behind this effort and will make sure the supplies make it to the students,” Lowe said.

As of now, the biggest need for the event is sponsors. Vanassa Flucas, Neighborhood Development manager, said it can cost $50 to $75 to equip one student with the needed school supplies to start each school year.

This is the first year for a collaborative back-to-school event, and Flucas said the bar has been set high by striving to raise $100,000 to provide school supplies for every in-need student in the county.

“Accomplishing this goal will help us better serve students,” she said. “We know the struggles many of our fellow citizens face each year when it is time to send our students back to class.”

Anyone interested in making a contribution or to sponsor the event should visit communityback2school.com for more information.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256