The Hawk Enrichment Center hosted its first After School Table on Tuesday, January 10. The Table will provide free meals to children in Sylvania on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons each week.
Chris Thomas, Hawk Enrichment Center executive director, states that his mission is to continuously give back through meals to children in the area.
Thomas is a Sylvania resident and pastor at Good Samaritan of Sylvania. In July 2022, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Finance at Valley College. He is working on obtaining a master's degree in business to be certified in teaching to help the children at the center, as there are future plans to implement a Pre-K program. Thomas has worked in the juvenile system and has turned down lots of jobs to fulfill this purpose of the Hawk Enrichment Center.
“Our mission is to help meet people at their needs.”
Chris Thomas
The enrichment center provides an after school tutoring program, and once all children are out of school, they also host summer camps. The center hosts a Thanksgiving dinner every year for citizens in the community, as well.
Hawk Enrichment Center memories
The Hawk Enrichment Center has been serving children in the community for 15 years at their same location in Sylvania, Georgia. This center has a lot of community history, which started with a basketball team called The Hawks. Thomas and his wife created a basketball team, and after tryouts, they took more than 80 players and played against any teams from different areas that wanted to play them during the summer.
The center's work has only grown from there.
Our Mission is committed to providing a positive, essential learning environment where each child is challenged in mastering academic progress, where youth can continue their education, physical, personal and mental development, and social skills that will enable students to be successful in their future endeavors. This Mission is designed to enhance basic skills, inspire learning, provide experience, and to encourage positive physical and emotional growth. Our Mission is committed also to helping young males and females in the community to re-establish themselves in the community and school to be productive citizens. IT IS OUR MISSION TO HELP.
Hawk Enrichment Center Website
Sylvania’s After School Table
The new After School Table program will provide the youth in the community with a free meal in the form of grab-n-go bags.
“We still have a lot of youth that is in our community that just don’t eat a meal."
Chris Thomas
The organization has invested in a 12x40 building as a lunchroom for the children in the after school program and for children in the community. The building is called "The Table," and while that name has a spiritual background, the primary goal of the After School Table is simply to feed the children in the community.
“This is ministry for me, because I am a pastor. This particular program that we’re implementing is meeting the needs of the youth in the community to make sure that these kids put something in their stomach.”
Chris Thomas
They serve children 5 to 18 years old for the after school tutoring program, but there is no age limit for the After School Table.
Hawk Enrichment Center upcoming events and more programs
The enrichment center is currently preparing for its Valentine’s Day Gala, coming up in February. They also do outreach with males in the prison system, providing lunch on some Saturdays. They host a community walk, with a meal for the community at large, on selected Wednesdays.
They also have coat, blanket, and clothing drives throughout the year.
“The scripture that I live by is, ‘Through loving kindness have I drawn thee.’ I do these things because I love people."
Chris Thomas
The Hawk Enrichment Center will continue to host its After School Table on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30pm at their location, 107 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Sylvania.
For more information, please call (912) 329-2071 or send an email to [email protected].
