On Saturday, July 8, 2023, several Bulloch County organizations collaborated to host a "Back to School Bash" at the Boys and Girls Club. The event took place from 10am-1pm.
The bash featured a giveaway of bookbags and school supplies for local children, while having refreshments, music, and fun activities onsite for attendees to enjoy.
A few highlights from the event were the Bulloch Book Bus being onsite for children to take home free books. Additionally, the Bulloch County Sheriff's Department had a station available to make Child Photo IDs for children and families, should future emergencies ever arise.
This year was the fifth annual year of the Back to School Bash. And quite amazingly, here are the stats from the fifth annual community event:
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More than 450 books bags were filled with supplies
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500 goodie bags were filled with goodies for lunch
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400 books on the Bulloch Book Bus were given out to children
Organizers of the event included: the Statesboro Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Beta Gamma Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Beta Gamma Gamma Foundation; Black Women of Profession; Bulloch County Boys and Girls Club; Bulloch County NAACP; Bulloch County Sheriff's Department; Cape Jessamine #86 OES; Lambda Pi Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; Love and Peace, Inc.; Our Girls Rock Too!; Restoring the Breach; Statesboro Food Bank; Statesboro Police Department; Summertime Enterprises; The Village Builders; Truthful Lodge #375; and Xi Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Regarding the success of the event, William Garner, past Basileus of the Xi Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., had these words to share.
"The event today is a Back to School bash, where we give out book bags and school supplies to upwards of 450 children. We started 5 years ago, in affiliation with several local sororities and fraternities, in addition to local organizations such as the Bulloch NAACP. We collectively realized the need for helping support local families in the pursuit of acquiring school supplies. So, each of our organizations began to work together towards this goal, and over the past five years, our Back to School Bash has grown tremendously in size and community support. We are excited to continue growing our Back to Bash event even more in the future. I would finally like to spotlight the Delta Sigma Theta ladies, who have played an instrumental part in the success of this event. "
Tanita McDowell, President of the Statesboro Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., shared similar sentiments to Garner, stating that,
"We put on this community event each year for our local youth in the community. Our organization's aim is to provide the youth with school supplies, while sending them well-wishes for a wonderful school year. This event is one of our biggest annual events that we do towards the start of the school year to give back to our community and our children within the community. Through the partnership of the many community organizations here today, 450+ kids are starting the school year with a book bag, notebook paper, pencils, markers, and so much more. I would like to thank all of the organizations for their participation in this event. It truly takes a village to raise a child. The collective collaboration of each of our organizations remains essential to our overall community success."
Jonathan Aaron, CEO and President of the Beta Gamma Gamma Foundation, shares that
"The 2023 Back to School Bash was our 'biggest' to date. This was the 5th year of the Back to School Bash and has been our largest collaborative effort to date. There were over 20 public, private, social and political organizations that came together with the common cause to provide book bags and school supplies to the children of Bulloch County and surrounding communities. We gave away 450+ Bags filled with supplies and were able to get 70 kids ID-ed through the Bulloch County Sheriff's Department; while providing food, fun, and the Book Bus to get the kids excited about the upcoming school year. We can proudly say 'Mission Accomplished'."