By MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ
The Belton Journal
Mount Zion United Methodist Church, MZUMC, hosted their Back to School with God backpack giveaway on Saturday at Yettie Polk Park in Belton.
There was free food, games, activities & bounce houses for kids. There was also free haircuts, ear, and eye exams. There were flyers posted around Belton with a QR code for people to register.
“The church has hosted the backpack giveaway since 2010. This is the second year it will be at Yettie Polk. It used to be at Harris Community Center, but we have about 500-600 kids and we needed more room. This year we expect 700 kids,” said Pastor Patrick Russell.
There were all kinds of backpacks given away for Pre-K through 12th grades. Hot dogs and popcorn were donated by The Lions Club.
Kids were given a bingo card and had to visit at least five vendors. The vendors stamped their bingo card, then the kids used the bingo card to get their backpack. Five members of the church met once a month on Tuesdays since January to put the backpack giveaway together.
The police department came and set up a car to let the kids play with the sirens and horn. The fire department also came with a fire truck and let the kids play dress up with their coats and hats. There were also military vehicles on site.
Some vendor booths included Court Appointed Special Advocates also known as CASA, Legacy Martial Arts, Yahweh Beauty Academy, Great Clips, Reagan’s Beauty and Barber Shop, and the Belton Independent School District.
“We advocate for kids in the foster care system to determine what’s in the best interest of them. We are court appointed so there’s a series of training that volunteers have to go through and then they get assigned to a case and we’re able to get volunteers to volunteer usually 10 to 12 hours a month of their time to be able to be the consistent person in the child’s life and really get to know them, their families, and reunify them with their parents or family member so they can go back home,” said Fiona Williams with CASA as she played cornhole with a child at her booth.
Catron Eastland and Chris Ingran cut children’s hair next to each other at their booth, for Yahweh Beauty Academy.
“At Yahweh Beauty Academy, we’re all learners. I already have some experience”, said Eastland.
“We will be there next year,” said Monika Thomas, Administrator for Yahweh Beauty Academy.
Reagan’s Beauty and Barber Shop had door prizes at their booth, and they handed out pamphlets about The Chisholm Trail, horseshoe gifts, and inflatable horse toys with their contact information on them.
