DeRenne Community Cares Fair serves around 200 families
Close to 200 families were served during the recent DeRenne and Campus Police Community Cares Fair hosted on Jan. 30 at DeRenne Middle School.
Families of DeRenne Middle and Hodge Elementary Schools were invited to participate in the event sponsored by Georgia Southern University College and supported by more than a dozen community organizations.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., families drove through the DeRenne Middle parking lot and received information and resources from local organizations including Parent University, Healthy Savannah, Savannah-Chatham County Police Department, the Humane Society of Savannah, the Rape Crisis Center of the Coastal Empire, the YMCA of the Coastal Empire, Savannah Technical College, and Second Harvest.
“We were honored to be a part of this event to serve the DeRenne community,” said Alisa Leckie, Ph.D., assistant dean for partnerships and outreach. “We are committed to a collaborative partnership that provides mutual support and benefit for DeRenne’s students and teachers as well as our education majors and faculty.”
Families in attendance received a box of non-perishable food items, pet supplies and toys, child activities and gifts, hand sanitizer and masks, as well as other giveaways including gift cards for most families.
“COVID-19 has hit our community hard,” said Taylor Norman, Ph.D., one of the event organizers and faculty member in the College of Education. ”Among those challenged right now are families who are now struggling to provide and care for children who are learning from their home environment. While just a fragment of the population, we were humbled to be able to help meet the needs of some of these families during this difficult time.”
The DeRenne Community Cares Fair coordinators included DeRenne Middle Assistant Principal Jacquelin Harden, DeRenne Middle Counselor Angela Carlyle, Lieutenant Devon Guilford of the SCCPSS Campus Police, and the College of Education’s Leckie and Norman.