The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Event helps students get ready for school year
Going back to school can be a hard on a child, but it can be even more stressful for parents who are worried about making sure everything is ready for that return.
It was in the interest of alleviating that stress, both for children and their parents, that We Walk by Faith JRC: Citizens for a Better Lorain’s Love, Peace and Soul Fest was held Aug. 19 at Westview Terrace in Lorain.
The event offered free clothes, school supplies, food and haircuts as well as a bouncy house, DJ and games in the park near the center of the development.
According to organizer Rokeidra Currie this is the fourth year in a row the event was held on the third Saturday in August.
She said the first event was planned in about 36 hours as a last minute thing for kids going back to school at her grandparents’, James and Rose Hannibal, church near the development.
“A lot of things were just starting to happen,” she said. “A young man had just gotten killed and a lot of people knew him, so we were like ‘oh, the community needs a pick-me-up for back-toschool.’ Surprisingly, we put the word out and we got quite a bit of school supplies so it worked out.”
Currie said her grandfather
always tried to help people who live in the development, so they decided to just move the event to the park within it, to make the trip safer.
Nikita Tilley, 29, of Lorain, said she was driving by and noticed the event and decided to stop by. She said these kinds of back-toschool events are good for the community because they help families that may be struggling.
“It’s nice to have people come together to help those parents that can’t; even the ones who can,” she said. “It’s just nice to have something like this so kids have something to do other than get in trouble.
Her 6-year-old daughter, Reese Tilley, had a pink ribbon painted on her left cheek. She said her favorite part of the event was the bouncy house and she’s not ready to go back to school for second grade.
Her sister, Samaria Tilley, 9, will be going into fourth grade next school year. She had a cupcake painted on her right cheek, and said she also wasn’t ready to go back to school.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t like it.”