COLUMBIA, S.C. — Local organizations are preparing for their first back-to-school event of the year. First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina, along with other organizations like the Latino Community Development, will give away backpacks filled with school supplies free of cost.
“This is a community that needs it the most right now,” Tanya Rodriguez-Hodges, Latino Community Development executive director, said.
The organization wants to ensure that all children have full bellies and backpacks as they head into the new school year.
“Most folks, as we know economically, are paycheck to paycheck, but when you're waiting for the next paycheck to drop, you might be suffering from a slight food insecurity situation or even a major food security situation,” Rodriguez-Hodges said. "That's why our monthly outreaches are so important."
To combat food insecurity, the organization will give away frozen chickens, eggs and milk to families at the First Choice Back to School event on July 20.
“The past 15 years, we’ve put out 30,000 backpacks into our community,” Michelle Ehert with First Choice said.
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For over a decade, they’ve been helping supply students with the tools they need.
“The past 15 years the need has always been the same. I mean, it's not gotten any easier, we'll say for sure. We started out just as backpacks and as the need continued to grow and the resources needed to be seen we added more supplies. We've added the pencil pouches and just the composition books and even a two pocket file folder. We all know that the list gets longer every year,” Ehert said.
On Saturday, July 20, First Choice will partner with local nonprofits and vendors to give away backpacks filled with school supplies for kindergarten through 12th-grade students.
“We have a mission, we help people get care, stay well and build healthy communities and we do this in ways of these community events, we want to provide resources and education around health care benefits for all of our members in our community,” Ehert said.
The event will be at the First Choice Community Center in Columbia. It will begin at 9 a.m. and last until 12 p.m. All families are welcome to attend, and supplies and food will be given out while supplies last.
“We know when we have successful kids in school and they’re fed, they’re learning. When they learn, they graduate, when they graduate. They go on to college, and then they get degrees and come back into our communities to serve the next cycle, the next generations,” Rodriguez-Hodges said.