DeKalb County is set to give students and families a boost before the bell rings in for the new academic year. In a partnership with the DeKalb County School District and local faith leaders, a significant back-to-school giveaway consisting of 3,000 bookbags and a plethora of food items will take place on Saturday, Aug. 3. According to an announcement by the DeKalb County Government, the event aims to equip students with essential supplies and provide families with fresh, nutritional produce to support a healthy start to the year.
The distribution effort will hand out clear bookbags stuffed with school staples such as pencils, pens, rulers, crayons, notebooks, filler paper, erasers, flash drives, and calculators. Additionally, families can expect to receive boxes containing items like Georgia-grown fruits and vegetables, eggs, and chicken hindquarters along with lunch box snacks. "The school supplies and food we are distributing will help thousands of children and their families have a successful start to the new school year," DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said, highlighting the positive impact anticipated by the initiative.
Commencing at 9 a.m. sharp, the giveaway locations will be dispersed across the county, ensuring a wide reach. Among the sites hosting the event are New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, and Saint Philip AME Church. More details and addresses of distribution points can be found on the county's official website.
This event is just one segment of DeKalb County's broader efforts to aid its residents, having distributed an estimated 159,700 boxes of food since May 2020. The county is also working with the Chamblee Coalition for Homelessness and La Vision Newspaper, leveraging federal American Rescue Plan funds to secure the produce and chicken. As families gear up for the academic year, ready or not, DeKalb County is stepping up to reduce the burden of back-to-school preparations.
