Pandemic doesn't stop back-to-school aid
Despite the pandemic or maybe because of it, several churches are continuing their longstanding tradition of providing back-to-school help for families.
Leaders at Family of Faith Church in Choctaw and OKC Faith Church said they will offer their school supply giveaway events, as they have for many years.
Family of Faith Church will host its annual Slip `N' Slide Back-to-School event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church, 13500 SE 15. OKC Faith Church will host its Feeding the 5,000 school supply giveaway beginning at 8 a.m. Aug. 15 at 800 S Portland.
The Rev. Pat Franks, associate pastor at Family of Faith, said church volunteers will distribute free backpacks and school supplies to children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. She said they also will give away
gently used and some new clothing for people of all ages.
In addition to inflatables, the event will include what leaders said is probably the main attraction for youths: a 100-foot Slip `N' Slide.
Franks said her church had a special prayer time to pray about COVID-19 concerns, and the congregation decided to move forward with the annual fun-filled water activity and distribution.
“The needs haven't changed, and if anything, they are more dire,” she said.
Franks said church volunteers will be wearing masks and gloves to help limit the spread of COVID-19, and attendees will be encouraged to follow social distancing guidelines. Franks said she didn't expect youths to wear masks while they take turns on the water slide.
Hope in tough times
At OKC Faith Church, the Rev. Terry Bates said his church also decided to host its 18th annual Feeding the 5,000 event because people are in need now more than ever.
Bates said due to concerns about hosting large gathering during the pandemic, the distribution will be conducted as a drive-thru, where families will be given supplies as they drive up to the church.
He said the church will give out 1,000 family boxes, each filled with five backpacks full of 100 school supplies for children in grades prekindergarten through 12th grade, while supplies last. Each family also will be given 10 burritos.
The drive-thru style is a departure from previous years in which church members performed several sessions of a faith-themed youthoriented skit and families walked through the church's gymnasium to pick up school supplies and eat burritos. The skits and school supply distribution events typically drew crowds of between 1,500 and 2,000 people, Bates said.
He said faith still will be incorporated in the giveaway event because each school supply box will include a DVD of the feature film “Breakthrough.” The faith-themed 2019 movie was based on the book “The Impossible: the Miraculous Story of a Mother's Faith and Her Child's Resurrection” by Joyce Smith and Ginger Kolbaba.
The minister said church members hope that families will watch the movie and pass it on to other individuals and families who will view it, as well.
He said families will be invited back to the church on Aug. 30 to hear from John Smith, the young man whose story is told in “Breakthrough.” Bates said Smith and his pastor will speak during a bilingual presentation so that Spanish-speaking residents may enjoy the message, and a later English-only service.
“We just feel that giving hope in such a hopeless time is really what the church is all about,” he said.
“So we really felt it was really not an option for us to step up and say we can't solve all the problems. We can't fix everything in the world, but maybe we can give some hope and lighten the load.”