Turner Chapel Hosts Back to School Bash

MARIETTA — Over 500 families gathered in the parking lot of Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church for its annual back-to-school block party Saturday.

With cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 80s, Senior Pastor Rev. Tar-U-Way Bright said it was a beautiful day for the event.

This year’s bash was organized by the church’s Evangelism and Generation Activated with a Purpose Youth Ministries and featured free food, games, community resources and various giveaways for kids and their families.

“We see a lot of people from the community, which reflects one of our core values: reaching out and loving the community,” Bright said.

With the Cobb and Marietta school districts starting Thursday, many members of Turner Chapel were dedicated to ensuring students had the necessary supplies to start the school year off right.

The Rev. Daisy Barnum, core value leader for the church’s Love Our Neighbor Ministry, said the church gave out over 600 backpacks and countless other school materials over the course of the event.

In addition to school supplies, the church purchased and paid for all meals, games and most vendors so that attendees could eat and play at no cost.

“We’re here for them and we want to provide a service to them as their kids go back to school because things are hard,” Barnum said. “We are in hard times and we want them to know that we’re not just the church on the hill but we’re actually the church that you can look to when you’re in need of anything.”

This year, Turner Chapel made it their mission to reach more people in the community, especially in the surrounding Roosevelt Circle neighborhood, Barnum said.

She added that many people in that area are food insecure and living below the poverty line.

Volunteers from local organizations including MUST Ministries, The Marcus Mission House and Cobb and Douglas Public Health provided attendees with additional resources.

CDPH helped residents sign up for the Georgia Women, Infants and Children Program, which provides monthly food benefits to low-income women, infants and children up to age 5.

Community members were able to learn more about The Marcus Mission House, a local food pantry and clothing closet as well as register to vote at the NAACP’s tent.

Kevin Pounds, director of strategic partnerships at MUST Ministries, and his two children gave out 300 personal hygiene kits containing various toiletries to help kids as they return to school.

“Especially when families are strapped financially, you end up having to skimp on those things that are on the edges (like toiletries),” Pounds said.

Pounds said Turner Chapel has been a longtime faithful partner to MUST Ministries, so the nonprofit wanted to return the favor.

He gave information about the organization’s client service centers where they help struggling individuals and families with food, clothing, housing, employment and more.

“If you need help getting a week’s worth of groceries, you can go in there and on the spot, you can get frozen meat, produce, shelf-stable goods,” Pounds said.

Expanding the event’s reach also meant minimizing language barriers, whether through bilingual signs or translated announcements.

“We have our Hispanic brothers and sisters who are here and we have a translator so that they will feel loved too,” Bright said.

Throughout the day, raffle numbers were called out in Spanish and English.

Attendees had the opportunity to win a new bicycle, tickets to an Atlanta Braves game and gift cards for stores like Walmart and QuickTrip.

Kalyn Bridges, 11, won a $75 gift card for a new pair of shoes during a game of musical chairs.

In addition to her new shoes, Kalyn received new colored pencils, crayons, paper, notebooks and glue, preparing her for the school year.

“My mom just really wanted us to come and get some stuff for school,” Kalyn said.

Marietta resident Kamilah Carter, who has been a member at the church for over 20 years, said she and her family look forward to the event every year.

“It motivates the kids to get ready for school,” Carter said.

While preparing for school is the top priority, Carter said the church also makes it a fun activity for kids.

There were several bouncy houses, a video gaming truck and other games as well as Gucci and Diesel, horses from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office mounted patrol unit.

The top hit was the newly added "Dunk Your Pastor."

Carter said her son, Kayden Sutton, 8, had been talking about the opportunity to dunk his youth pastor, Wayne Reynolds, for days leading up to the event.

When it was his turn, Sutton, who plays baseball and has been working on his pitching skills, hit the red button, dunking Reynolds in the water.

“I think the kids love that, to actually see your leader get down to where you are and have some fun,” Carter said.

Bright said seeing all of the kids, with their backpacks and gifts, and their families enjoying the day was a blessing.

“It’s not so much inviting them to church, we would love for them to come to church … but it’s trying to let them know that somebody cares,” Bright said.

For more information about Turner Chapel, located at 492 North Marietta Parkway, visit https://www.turnerchapelame.org/ .