Groups, community members help kids get back-to-school ready

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - When it comes to back-to-school shopping, the only thing better than a sale is free.

Lucky for parents, there’s a huge back-to-school celebration at the Augusta Common. There are plenty of giveaways heading into the weekend.

At the Augusta Common, there were food trucks, live music, and vendors for people to stop at.

Augusta Parks and Recs teamed up with Tabernacle Baptist Church and Miller-Motte College to host a back-to-school bash.

You can get free school supplies, and they’re giving away gift cards. But they are not the only ones making an impact in the community for kids going back to school.

“Not only do kids need school supplies. They also may need their hair cut,” said Marvin Stone with Cornerstone Barber Shop.

A group of 10-12 local barbers will host their first annual back-to-school drive Sunday with free haircuts.

“We not looking for nothing in return. I just really want to get back to provide for our community and support,” he said.

Stone has been a barber for nearly 14 years and says the goal of this event is to inspire the community he grew up in.

“It’s important because it’s some less fortunate people out there. You just always want to take care of your environment, take care of your community, give back to your people. Hopefully, it inspires the next generation of barbers to do the same thing,” said Stone.

Downtown, Augusta Parks and Recs collaborated with a local church and community college to gather bags of school supplies and bring families together for a good time.

Special Events Manager with Augusta Parks and Rec, Yolanda Greenwood said: “Without the supplies, they can’t do what they need, so we said ‘Hey, let’s partner with these folks so we can get our kids the stuff they need to get ready for school’.”

Executive Minister of Ministries Tabernacle Baptist Church Zebra Jefferson said: “We don’t realize how important a pencil is until you don’t have one to do your math homework.”

Tabernacle Baptist Church took donations all of July and exceeded their goal of 500 filled backpacks.

“The more the merrier because everyone won’t be able to access everything, but if we have enough, maybe one person will be able to access,” said Jefferson.

Stone said: “Just trying to get back to the community.”

Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.