Edmundites give out supplies to school children
Published 5:15 pm Wednesday, January 24, 2018
- Edmundites organize bags of school supplies to hand out to children Wednesday at Kingston Elementary School.
By Adam Dodson | The Selma Times-Journal
Selma’s Edmundite Missions is showing its commitment towards improving the community through investing in the city’s children.
Over a three-day stretch, the Edmundites will visit three different schools to give out schools supplies to the students.
The Edmundites visited Sophia P. Kingston Elementary at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24.
They will meet with Payne Elementary the following morning and with Clark Elementary the day after that.
The first stop on the elementary school tour was Kingston.
At the school, Edmundites handed out 175 supply bags to students, many of whom are in need of programs such as these. Supplies in the bags contained pens, crayons, colored pencils, notebook paper, tissue and hand sanitizer.
Students and faculty alike expressed their gratitude.
“I appreciate the significance of what they do with students who can truly benefit from them,” Principal Ozella D. Ford said. “In my 24 years in the educational field, I have never seen a relationship like the Edmundites have with these schools.”
This is a new system for the Edmundites, who for many years handed out supplies to students at the beginning of the school year, rather than the beginning of the Spring semester. According to President and CEO of Edmundite Missions Chad McEachern, they changed the date to January as a result of an array of organizations stepping up to help kids at the beginning of the school year in August.
Despite the unordinary timing, the Edmundites were still expecting great results from the program. Along with handing out the 175 bags today, McEacehern anticipates giving away around 1,500 for the entire three-day period.
“The children are the building blocks of our community,” McEachern said. “This is our way of helping out and showing them the importance of being active participants in helping others.”
In addition to the supply giveaways at the schools, Edmundite Missions will continue their breakfast bag program, which helps students in need receive meals on Friday before the weekend.
