A Derby church eased the back-to-school burden for 69 struggling families by giving them $100 gift cards to Walmart.
Walnut Hill Community Church, at the corner of Smith and Ninth streets in Derby, raised $6,900 for the cause.
It’s part of the church’s constant mission to help the community, said Pastor Walt Mayhew.
“Our motto, if you will, is loving God and your neighbor,” Mayhew said. “That’s what Jesus told us to do. So how do we do that? We just look around the community and see where there is a need.”
The money was used for back-to-school clothes.
This is the second year Mayhew and his congregants at the church have helped Derby families with back-to-school needs.
The idea originated last year with Irving School Principal Jennifer Olson, Mayhew said.
The Walmart gift cards were given to families whose children attend Derby Middle School or the district’s two elementary schools, Bradley and Irving.
The Valley Indy tagged along Tuesday morning with Mayhew and the Wertman family — mom Debbie with sons Jose, a Derby middle schooler, and Anthony, a student at Bradley.
Mom works at Adams Hometown Market next to Walmart. Two $100 gift cards to help her children buy clothes were greatly appreciated.
“I’m only working part-time at the moment and I don’t get much help. So this was just great,” Wertman said. “I didn’t have the money to go shopping this year, so I didn’t really know what I was going to do.”
The boys were able to but several outfits and a backpack or two. They were anything but greedy — after they made their choices, they still hadn’t used up their gift cards, so they had to go back and pick out a few more items.
Jose patiently and politely explained what “Minecraft” was to a clueless reporter while his little brother contemplated getting a “Minecraft” T‑shirt.
Derby Public Schools are classified as an “alliance district” by the state, meaning test scores are not where they should be — and neither is financial support.
The designation qualifies Derby for extra school funding from the state, on which it heavily relies.
Meanwhile, one in three families in the Valley as a whole has trouble meeting ends meet, according to “The Valley Now,” a report published earlier this year.
According to that same report, the child poverty rate in Derby was at 30 percent in 2012.
So that’s why Walnut Hill Community Church is trying to help.
Last year the church held the first Derby’s BEST 5k Run-Walk along the Derby Greenway. It raised about $3,600 for Derby Public Schools.
Among the projects that received money:
- An after school robotics club at the Irving School
- Science experiments at Irving
- Materials for a math class at the Bradley School
- Books and a bookcase for a fifth grade reading class at Bradley
- A “recipe for reading“ program at Bradley
- Materials for a fifth grade reading class at Bradley
- A reading assessment program at Bradley
- A “Light Box“ for the Irving School
- Musical instruments for a music class at Bradley
This year’s Derby’s BEST is scheduled for Sept. 26 starting behind BJ’s Wholesale on Division Street.
