Give a Kid
2022 Back to School Redesigned With Kid
BY SUSAN BROWNING SCHULZ
The Give a Kid a Chance (GAKAC) team is gearing up for the 2022 back to school event, set for July 23 at Hillside United Methodist Church in Woodstock, Revolution Church Canton and Revolution Church Jasper. While much of the preparation is the same, there are a few new elements this year, starting with leadership. GAKAC is now part of the outreach ministry of Revolution Church. Zip Cain, the church’s missions minister, is directing the annual event, now in its 16th year. The benefit of having GAKAC join the mission of Revolution Church is that it will add to the year-round efforts of Revolution to serve under-resourced families in Cherokee and Pickens counties. Another change is that children, after they pick out their new backpack, will be able to choose each item to fill them, rather than receive previously filled backpacks. They will head off to have fun with games and activities while their parents and/or guardians can check out a community resource center that has information for additional help they may need. Every family will leave with a meal, thanks to SERV International in Canton, Forever Fed in Woodstock and Cares Food Pantry at the Pickens County location. Other fun activities at the event include bounce houses, games and crafts, and the police department will have vehicles at each location for kids to explore. This new structure fulfills the five staples of the bash: backpacks, prayer, games, food boxes and resources. “At the end of every summer, families in our community are beginning to gather school supplies for their kids to have educational success. When a family is living paycheck to paycheck, this can be extremely difficult to do. Children often have to learn to make do with what they have, even if that means returning to school without the proper essentials they need to succeed,” Cain said. Cher 46
AROUND WOODSTOCK | July 2022
