Few things are more nostalgic than the memories of preparing to go back to school in the fall: clothes laid out neatly on beds, sharpened pencils, pristine folders and backpacks ready to be filled with new material. But when you can’t afford a new backpack or supplies, how do you prepare for the new school year?
For families in the Harrisburg area, Tabernacle Baptist Church is here to help.
On Aug. 6, the church will partner with D&H Distributing and Delta Sigma Theta sorority to host a “Back to School and Health Fair.” The event is designed to meet the needs of school-aged children and their parents.
“We started the event six years ago,” said church member and former outreach committee chair Sandra Goodram. “We wanted to engage the youth in the community, so we decided to have a giveaway that would be beneficial to them.”
That first summer, the church gave away 75 backpacks. This year, thanks to a donation from Harrisburg-based D&H Distributing, it will give away 300.
The event is designed to feel like a street fair.
“We grill hamburgers and hot dogs, and we’ll have music and a dunk tank,” said Keith Mitchell, a member of the community outreach committee. “There will be games for kids, and, for the adults, we’ll have a health fair.”
The health portion of the fair is coordinated by the church’s health ministry, which has invited providers to set up booths. PinnacleHealth, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Dauphin County’s Area Agency on Aging all will be represented at the event. Adults will have the opportunity to receive a blood pressure screening, as well as eye and ear testing. All services will be offered free of charge.
“We tend to think of this kind of stuff—backpacks, school supplies, blood pressure screenings—as extra,” said Rev. Dr. Arthur L. Brown, the church pastor. “But sometimes that is fundamental. What we provide to these kids and families is so important.”
Children going into grades K to 6 will receive a backpack and school supplies, such as colored pencils, erasers and pens. Students entering grades 7 to 12 will receive a calculator with their backpack.
This year, the Harrisburg chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority will play an important role in the event, too. The sorority has been involved with Reading is Fundamental for almost 25 years.
“We go into churches, or any place that will have us, and we donate books,” said Kristal Turner-Childs, chapter president. “We have a summer reading program, and we also bring applications for Delta GEMS, our mentorship program for young girls. The program is geared toward young ladies. We teach them leadership skills, how to conduct themselves, table etiquette and life skills.”
Brown said that giving out backpacks helps the church fulfill part of its mission.
“The three areas of our church’s mission are to worship, grow and serve,” he said. “This event gets members of our church outside the walls and into the community. It provides them an avenue to get involved in the community.”
The church already is known for providing meals to people in the community, but members wanted to do more.
“We have a feeding program that we’ve been doing for almost 40 years, and it operates weekly,” said Brown. “We feed 100 or more people each week—we’ve expanded our efforts. Feeding people is necessary, but what else can we do to help people?”
Participants hope this event is one small step in creating a more supportive and engaged community in Harrisburg.
“It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that this is a collaboration,” said Turner-Childs. “We’ve become a transient society, but we still need each other. We can make a bigger impact if we do things together.”
“That’s the challenge of collaboration—setting our egos aside,” added Brown. “Lately, all we’ve read about in the news is tragedy, and how it is bringing people together. We hope, in this case, it will be love and not tragedy that brings our community together.”
The Back to School and Health Fair takes place Saturday, Aug. 6, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the parking lot of Tabernacle Baptist Church, 1106 Capital St., Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-236-1774 or visit www.tabernaclebaptist.net.
Author: Rachael Dymski
