Howard County youth group helps Baltimore school

Getting ready to go back to school. That’s what staff and parents at Medfield Heights Elementary School did today, with the help of a special group of teens.

Teens from the Rescue 1 Youth Club, a Howard County-based mentorship program, counted, sorted and bundled supplies in bins for classroom teachers at the North Baltimore school. They joined parents and staff for a volunteer organization day. Kechi Anumihe is executive director of the Rescue 1 Youth Club.

“School is about to resume,” Anumihe says. “So, the teachers are probably coming in this week. And once they come in, they look, they see their bins are ready with the school supplies in them.”

Anumihe saw the school’s supply list on city schools’ website . When she called the school to say the club would help, the school told her of another need: water.

The school’s water supply has lead and is undrinkable. Anumihe, a mother of four, leapt to action.

“Until they’re able to fix the lead here, we don’t know how long that’s going to take,” Anumihe says. “So the students need the water. The teachers need the water.”

The club brought 11, 5-gallon jugs of water to the school, and more is coming. Of course, the school still has needs. That’s where organizations like Rescue 1 Youth Club come in, said Assistant Principal Megan Waller.

“It really is a two-way street,” Waller said. “We’re a community school. We can’t do this without the community.”

Rescue 1 Youth Club has three more schools to help, and they’ve got a shopping list of items still needed.

You can visit their website for more information.