DJ brings backpacks, supplies for students
Early Saturday morning, Jermaine Williams climbed out of a gray Jeep Patriot with three backpacks in hand and walked up to a home on Linder, where a young woman waited on a porch with a shy smile on her face.
The backpacks were for her three children — Joseph, Anna and Liliana — who are starting school in a little over a week and needed supplies before their first day at Kashmere Gardens Elementary.
“Liliana is excited, it’s her first year going to school, so she’s been excited for a long time,” said Theresa Gonzales, referring to her 4year-old daughter. “This is much appreciated.”
After exchanging some kind words with Gonzales, Williams got back into his car and drove off. It was only 8:30 a.m., but he had 10 more homes he’d promised to visit with backpacks and Air Jordan shoes Saturday morning, so there was no time to lose.
Williams, 32, grew up in the South Park area and lives with his wife, Chandress Williams, in Fifth Ward. He makes his living performing at private events as DJ 425, with Chandress working as his manager.
For Jermaine, the giveaway is a simple, effective way to give directly back to his community. There’s no red tape or middleman involved, just him and his family stocking up on backpacks and school supplies at Walmart with money they raised via Cash App from friends and loved ones.
“This is something we’ve been wanting to do for years,” he said. “We didn’t want to just focus on one community, so that’s why we decided to do deliveries, so we could touch every community that we possibly could.”
From Fifth Ward, the Williamses drove to Acres Homes, Greenwood Forest, Spring and Cypress Creek on Saturday morning making deliveries. Jermaine’s cousin, Jasmine Doyle, drove to Humble to make deliveries herself, and a few more families will come to pick up their backpacks from the Williamses.
All in all, the family will have given away 40 backpacks stocked with age-appropriate school supplies. The preschoolers got bags full of crayons, construction paper and the like, while teenagers got materials such as college-ruled notebooks and highlighters.
Additionally, three children were randomly selected to receive a free pair of Air Jordan shoes donated by Chandress’ cousin Justin Braxton who works as a shoe reseller.
“We wanted to give kids an opportunity to feel good when they go to school. You know sometimes parents can’t always do as much, and they try their best, so when we give the backpacks away, we want to get like stylish backpacks, so the kids can feel like they’re something when they go to school,” Jermaine said.
Families signed up for the giveaway through a registration form, and the Williamses spread the word through flyers, social media and word of mouth. About half the parents heard of the program through Chandress’s sister Taungela Carter, who spread the word to coworkers at Synergy Homecare Solutions, an inhome senior care provider.
“I’m happy, because I wasn’t sure how I was going to get shoes and she was the last one I couldn’t get shoes for,” Kerilynn Grundy said of her daughter Brianna, who will be starting her freshman year at Klein Forest High School and was selected to receive a free pair of Jordan Retro 3s.
Now that the Williamses have wrapped up the backpack drive, they already have their sights set on their next giveaway.
“He’s already thinking about Christmas,” Chandress said.
“We’re thinking Dec. 18, a couple of turkeys and things like that,” Jermaine said.