100 Black Men of Madison gave out school supplies to families in need at its annual Back to School Celebration On Aug. 10. The event was made possible through the group’s partnership with Milwaukee school districts and community groups.
According to Spectrum News, the group has held the event for almost 30 years. At the event in 2023, they were able to distribute school supplies to approximately 1,200 families, which the group expected would be the case this year as well.
According to J.R. Sims, a spokesperson for 100 Black Men, it is vital that children get supplies ahead of the beginning of the school year.
“What we realize is that if students don’t have the proper supplies when they’re starting out the school year, they’re starting out at a disadvantage,” Sims told Spectrum News. “That disadvantage is going to show up in their performance.”
Sims continued, “The natural order of things has demonstrated that families are strapped to try and supply all of these goods and services by themselves. So, we just want to be here to help the community grow.”
The United Way of Tri-County agrees with Sims’ assessment of the disadvantage students who don’t have adequate school supplies face, writing in a blog post, “Students who start school with the supplies they need in the classroom and at ho
me are more motivated, have higher self-esteem, and enjoy a better learning experience overall. Across a lifetime, this leads to higher rates of high school graduation, secondary education pursuits, and career success.”One of the parents, Erika Walker, told the outlet that she was grateful for the assistance that 100 Black Men were providing her family.
“I’ve been unemployed for 14 months, so our family is struggling,” Walker told Spectrum News. “I actually ended up going to a store, put everything together in a cart, and it was close to $400 to $500,” she said. “And I’m like, I don’t have that type of money.”
Walker continued, “At least they won’t feel like, ‘Hey, everyone else has their backpack with their school supplies, and I’m the outsider where people are going to be looking at me, or students are going to be looking at me weird because I don’t have what I need. You need to look for the best, and obviously, the best thing for our children is to provide a better education, and having just the basics for them is what is needed to start the year well.”
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