At United Way of Northwest Georgia, our goal is to improve the lives of families and individuals by supporting education, basic needs, and health.
There are so many unknowns right now in our community, and we are all feeling the burden of this global pandemic in every aspect of our lives. One of the most concentrated effects of this pandemic has been on our education system. What does it look like to continue education in the midst of a global crisis? The need to keep education and supportive services as a priority has increased.
As we prepare to send our children back to school, in person or virtually, parents are making difficult choices that balance safety with the need to continue to educate our children in the new normal. At my own house, we are preparing to send our oldest away to college. This brings a whole host of stressors and decisions beyond the normal anxieties parents feel when a child leaves for the first time. Our daughter will be a senior, and we wonder what her senior memories will be as a member of the Class of 2021. Our youngest will be a freshman – what will his year look like? These are all questions without definitive answers, but we know we must move forward.
At United Way, we will be continuing what we have always done--- getting kids ready for kindergarten, reading at grade level by 3rd grade, and graduating on time with skills to be career and life-ready. We may be finding unique ways to accomplish this with our Community Partners as we head back to school, while still serving educators and those being educated.
Over the summer we partnered with the Whitfield County Schools summer lunch program to create the #PowerLunch program. Whitfield County Schools’ summer lunch sites provided USDA lunches for students while United Way volunteers passed out books to encourage summer reading. #PowerLunch began on June 5 and ended July 31. We put over 3,400 books in the hands of students and their families to prevent summer slide.
We also provided volunteer opportunities to corporations, small businesses, and students to restock our Little Free Libraries located in Whitfield and Murray Counties. The purpose of these libraries is to provide a place where all readers in the community can share books throughout the year. Participants can leave books to share with others in the box and take a book they would like to read. These Little Free Libraries are available year-round, but with many kids and their families at home during the pandemic, we have seen an increase in books taken for reading at home. By offering small group volunteer projects throughout the COVID-19 crisis, such as restocking the Little Free Libraries, we have been able to respond to a rising desire for kids and their families to read more.
In June, we received a donation from Shaw Industries of large storage bins. United Way made the connection to deliver the donated bins to schools and our Community Partners. The schools were very grateful for these bins to help organize students’ schoolwork and papers during the COVID-19 crisis. With major adjustments within the schools, organizations will play a key role in helping the educators and students have a successful school year.
Although times are still uncertain, our Volunteer Center has been working hard to offer safe volunteer opportunities. Students will be offered virtual volunteer opportunities and smaller scale in-person opportunities to help gain volunteer hours for awards and scholarships. In fact, students and their parents have the opportunity to get a head start on completing the necessary criteria for our Elbert Shaw Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship awards $5,000 to two high school students (juniors or seniors) every year who are true examples of community changers. To learn more about our volunteer awards and how to apply visit: https://www.ourunitedway.org/volunteer-awards.
Recovery is a long road and this pandemic will affect students along with their families for much longer than we ever anticipated. We need your help. To invest in improving education in Whitfield and Murray Counties, visit www.ourunitedway.org/give. Together we can Build Better Futures.
Live United!
Amanda Burt is the President of United Way of Northwest Georgia. The mission of United Way is Improving Lives, Inspiring Donors, Uniting Community.
This article was featured in Daily Citizen News on Saturday, August 8, 2020.