Walnut Hill Community Church in Derby launched a Go Fund Me web page to purchase back-to-school clothes for Derby Public School students.
Church officials have a list of about 67 kids from low-income families they want to help.
Pastor Walt Mayhew said the church is looking to provide a $100 back-to-school shopping trip for each participating student to the local Walmart.
The Go Fund Me goal is $6,700.
The money will be used to purchase basic clothing items such as pants, shirts, dresses, skirts, shoes or sneakers, a light fall jacket and backpacks.
The shopping trip is scheduled for July.
Click here to make a donation.
Last year Mayhew’s congregation helped 30 students with back-to-school needs at the Irving School.
This year the event has expanded to include students in need at the Bradley School in east Derby and at Derby Middle School.
“Based on past experience, we expect that 65 of these back to school shopping trips will be necessary to meet the need in the three schools, and we have begun the fundraising to meet that goal,” Mayhew said in a press release.
“It is truly heartbreaking to know that, because of the high level of poverty that exists in our school district, children might return to school lacking the basic supplies and clothing to meet the academic challenges before them.”
The church has also set up a program where parishioners can adopt a Derby family to help with back-to-school clothes.
Other Fundraising
The Derby church is not new to helping city students.
It teamed with the schools to host two 5k run/walks which raised more than $3,600 to provide funding for nine classroom-based projects.
The church also sponsors the annual Easter Run/Walk to fight domestic violence, which raised more than $3,500 for BHCare’s Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services.
Additionally, they host free family movie nights, a free fall festival and a number of other community-based events.
