The City of Baldwin held its Back to School Bash Saturday, July 20, at Life Church. Mayor Stephanie Almagno said that it was a success through its partnership with several organizations and businesses in the community.
The event started at 4 p.m. at Life Church on Saturday and concluded at 8 p.m. At the start, there were approximately 200 people in line so students could register to receive free school supplies and free haircuts. Last year, that number was more than 400.
The main reason for the decrease this year was the generous donations from the city’s partners. Over the last year, the city has been working for this event with one main goal in mind, to provide every student at Baldwin Elementary School with all of their school supplies.
That goal was not only achieved but exceeded. The city was able to provide classroom supplies that typically are part of a student’s school supply list. Some of those items were kleenexes, hand wipes, paper towels, and hand sanitizer. Those items will supply approximately 40 teacher’s classrooms.
City employees met Baldwin Elementary School Principal Rodney Long and Assistant Principal Alexandria Noggle at the school’s gym to unload the supplies. It took at least seven vehicles to transport all of the supplies to the school. Approximately 425 students will be provided school supplies for their first day of school on August 2.
After unloading the supplies, Long said, “As I look around and see all the material that’s here, I can’t believe how gracious the city of Baldwin and its partners were. We are extremely humble about all this, beyond excited.”
He adds, “We’re so excited to see this. We’re so excited to have the community get involved.”
For those Baldwin students that attend Level Grove Elementary, South Habersham Middle School, and Habersham Central High School, they received school supplies as well. Life Church Pastor Bob Petty credits the Easton Foundation for partnering with the city and Life Church to provide supplies to those students. “The foundation provided 150 book bags and supplies,” he said. The foundation, along with its partners provided at least 150 students with their supplies, including hygiene products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, and body wash.
The Easton Foundation president Casey Lizama partnered with Life Church for the event because the church had a need. “They had a need for backpacks and school supplies and the Easton Foundation stepped up,” he said. The foundation is named after Easton Singleton who died in an automobile accident in 2012. Lizama explained that the foundation follows Singleton’s belief in helping the community. “The foundation does nothing but help local youth throughout six counties now,” he said.
Free haircuts were provided by hair stylists from Hollywood Hair Works. Over the course of four hours, they provided at least 50 haircuts to students just in time to start the school year.
The event was not only about school supplies but about a sense of community. The city and the church provided games, face painting, and pizza. Kona Ice was also on hand to provide a cool treat while parents, grandparents, and students waited in line to register for their school supplies.
Almagno was excited about the event and that the weather held out for the Baldwin Back to School Bash. She was excited due to the generosity of the city’s community partners. “We were able to 100% give to Baldwin parents those school supplies that they needed and what all the teachers at Baldwin Elementary needed, thanks to our community partners that donated so generously,” she said.
