This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Woodstock Back-to-School Bash

It was school mania at the Cherokee County Recreation Center Saturday when Give a Kid a Chance readied kids for the upcoming school year.

Decked out with balloons and friendly volunteers in fluorescent green shirts, the Cherokee County Recreation Center was transformed into a welcoming, Back-to-School Workshop Saturday. 

Books, socks, underwear, clothing, stuffed animals and of course, backpacks filled with school supplies, were available to 2,700 pre-registered families along with haircuts, spinal and medical screening and lunch both there and at Canton First Baptist Church.

Candi Hannigan, co-founder of Give a Kid a Chance, said she was still getting calls from families who wanted to attend. They prepared for 3,000 families, so they held the last hour of the event open just for families who missed preregistration. Families who preregistered were given appointment times to make sure they received their supplies as well as individual attention.

Find out what's happening in Woodstock-Towne Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The highly organized festival ran smoothly with students rotating to various stations spread out throughout the facility, such as the haircut, backpack and spinal check station.

The volunteers manned their stations, greeting students and families, helping them select items, performing services and answering questions. 

Find out what's happening in Woodstock-Towne Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Co-founder Cheryl Ruffer darned one volunteer, Anita, with the nickname, “Socks and Underwear Queen,” for her dedication to keeping her tables organized.

The single-largest cost to the organization is filling the backpacks, Ruffer said. Because of all of the hard work of churches and community members, approximately 1,500 of the filled backpacks were donated this year.

One of the stations available was a “Thank You” card table where families could express their gratitude to all of the wonderful supporters of the event and organization.

“Over 90 are listed on our website now and that needs to be updated,” Hannigan said after expressing her gratitude for the help they have received from the community.

Hannigan credits the success of the smooth operations to Ruffer’s business-minded organization skills, the wonderful volunteers, tremendous donations they received and their year-long preparation.

Working as a strong community full of caring business and individuals, Hannigan said, they’ve been able to grow each year to help kids.

Give a Kid a Chance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that has was started in 2006 helping 100 students in its first year. This year, the organization reached 2,700 plus families.

Hannigan said 30 churches across Cherokee County collaborating to donate and fill backpacks and other supplies is something genuinely remarkable.  

“This is truly unique to the caring people in our community,” she said. 

See photos of Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch volunteering at this event at www.facebook.com/WoodstockPatch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Woodstock-Towne Lake