Good News August 2017 Broward

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26 August 2017 FAMILY Good News - Broward Edition
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Kids Can Feel Confident about Heading
Back to School
Chrissie Ferguson
Good News
For many children, the first
day back to school is an exciting
one. Students are ready to take
on the year with new haircuts,
backpacks, school attire and
supplies.
But for less fortunate chil-
dren, whose families are unable
to afford these things, the first
day back to school can be a little
more daunting.
In an effort tomake sure that
all children throughout south
Florida feel ready and confident
for the new school year, many
local organizations are holding
Back to School Drives this fall.
Here are just a few of them.
Urban Youth Impact -
Back 2 School Blast
Founded in 1997, Urban
Youth Impact’s mission is “to
love, equip and empower in-
ner-city youth and their parents
(in the Tamarind Avenue cor-
ridor and surrounding area in
West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach
and Boynton Beach) to fulfill
their God-given purpose.”
One program offered
through Urban Youth Impact is
The LeadershipAcademy (TLA),
which serves up to 150 students
in grades K-9 after school, daily,
and offers tutoring, comput-
er-based literacy learning, faith-
based instruction, life-skills and
character building lessons.
Children who participate
in the Leadership Academy are
given the opportunity to receive
a new backpack and school sup-
plies at the Back 2 School Blast,
located at Urban Youth Impact
on North Australian Avenue in
West Palm Beach on Saturday,
August 5th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Parents come to the event
with their children,” said Kris-
ten White, Back 2 School Blast
Volunteer and Community Out-
reach Coordinator. “There’s a
kids’ zone in the backyard with
face painting, a DJ and a bounce
house.”
As children play outside,
parents walk through the school
supply store with volunteers
who help them pick out the nec-
essary items for the upcoming
school year.
“A lot of times when we were
children and it was a new school
year, we looked forward to going
school shopping and showing
up on the first day,” White said.
“A lot of children don’t look for-
ward to that new day of school
because they have uniforms with
holes in them.”
“By having this event we can
provide school supplies for the
kids who don’t have the resourc-
es and bless them while helping
to bring our community closer,”
explained White.
Drop off donations at Urban
Youth Impact. Any and all $50
gift cards are appreciated, but
Old Navy cards are suggested so
that parents can purchase new
uniforms for their children.
No time to drop off? Visit
school-blast-donate/ and donate
online. Click the link for needed
school supplies, or shop the Am-
azon Wish List. Donations after
the event are always welcome.
Sheridan House -
Back to School Drive
Located in Davie, Sheridan
House, which will celebrate 50
years of helping children next
year, serves the community
through various parenting and
counseling programs, as well as
residential programs for middle-
school-aged children. In addi-
tion, the single parent ministry
serves over 3,500 mothers and
children each year.
The single mom’s ministry
was founded in the early 80’s by
Bob Barnes, when he started dis-
tributing dented food cans that
had been donated from Publix
to single moms.
“It started out with a little
food pantry,” said Amy Adler,
Single Parent Ministry Volun-
teer Coordinator, “and (Barnes)
realized that (single mothers)
needed more than just food.”
Today, the program offers
intensive training in areas such
as finances, parenting, resume
preparation and interviewing
skills, as well as meal planning
on a budget.
“Our goal is to equip the sin-
gle moms to succeed in life,” Ad-
ler said. “Rather than offer them
a hand out, we offer them a hand
up.”
For mothers involved in this
training, the Sheridan House
offers the Back-to-School event
on August 12th at their main
campus, located in Davie at 1700
South Flamingo Road.
“We anticipate about 350
children that will be blessed
with school supplies,” Adler said.
“They also get gift certificates for
haircuts and shoes.”
“These moms are living
paycheck to paycheck,” Adler
explained. “When school comes
around it adds so much stress to
think that they need to spend
200 dollars on school supplies.
The Back-to-School-Drive takes
a big burden off the mothers and
their children so that they can
just focus on their families and
basic needs.”
Visit
web/event/back- to-school-
drive/ to check out the needed
school supplies, and drop off
items before Friday, August 11th.
Contact Amy Adler at 954-954-
583-1552 to set up a drop off
time.
4KIDS of South Florida - Back to
School Drive
For over 19 years, 4KIDS of
South Florida has been work-
ing collectively with committed
churches, corporations, foun-
dations and individuals in the
Treasure Coast, Palm Beach and
Broward counties to make a dif-
ference in the lives of foster care
children while fulfilling their
mission of “Providing Hope…
For Kids in Crisis.”
“When there is no other
family member available and
(the children) get removed from
home because of abandonment,
abuse or neglect, (foster parents)
parent them like their own until
they can be reunited with a fami-
ly member or parent,” said Marie
Labranche, Foster Care Director
at 4Kids of South Florida.
“We recruit, train, license
and support foster parents to
meet the needs of the children
that are coming into foster care,”
said Labranche.
One event which helps
meet these needs is the Back to
School Drive, which takes place
on July 29th for Palm Beach fos-
ter care parents, held at Journey
church in Lake Worth, and on
August 5th for Broward foster
care parents, held at Christian
Life Center.
Hoping to donate? Visit
and fill an age-appropriate back-
pack with items from their shop-
ping list. Drop off at the 4KIDS
Broward office, 2717 West Cy-
press Creek Road, Ft. Lauder-
dale. Donations of new clothing
and underwear are also welcome
throughout the school year.
“When we say the word or-
phan, we’ve trained ourselves
to believe that an orphan lives
in another country,” Labranche
concludes. “But really in south
Florida we have an orphan crisis
happening in our own backyard.
It’s important that our commu-
nity takes care of our own.”
Chrissie Ferguson is a free-
lance writer and the mother of
three boys. She is also a middle
school writing teacher at Ro-
sarian Academy in West Palm
Beach. Follow her on Twitter @
gatorchriz1