McKeesport: Community joins forces for back-to-school giveaway
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Members of the Mc-Keesport NAACP Unit take the idea of coming together as a community seriously, according to President Brenda Sawyer.
The NAACP unit, in partnership with Mayor Michael Cherepko’s office, the Men of Valor youth mentoring group, the McKeesport Community Find and many others, held a drive-thru back-to-school giveaway Saturday at McKeesport High School.
Sawyer said the unit wanted to hold the event to “do something for the kids in the community.”
To practice social distancing, McKeesport Area School District students of all ages who are heading back to class — whether it be virtually or in person — lined up in front of the school from the safety of a vehicle to receive free backpacks and tote bags filled with personal hygiene items.
They were distributed by McKeesport NAACP Unit members, McKeesport police officers, volunteers from the Women’s Ministry of Bethlehem Baptist Church of McKeesport, City Hall employees, Men of Valor Director and city Councilman Tim Brown, Cherepko and his wife Nicole, school board Vice President Mindy Sturgess, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tia Wanzo and others.
Sawyer said McKeesport NAACP members and a long list of local individuals and organizations who donated wanted MASD students to go back to the classroom with a few essentials that might help them feel more comfortable being there while dealing with coronavirus pandemic mitigation restrictions.
Sawyer reached out to Cherepko about a month ago to ask if the city could help coordinate a location for a giveaway event that would still allow those participating to practice social distancing.
The mayor said he “got on board immediately.”
He collaborated with his fellow board members from the McKeesport Community Fund to approve the NAACP unit for a $4,000 McKeesport Community Fund grant for the hygiene supplies. A $3,500 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant issued to McKeesport’s Gun Violence Reduction Program Youth Outreach Initiative and Men of Valor was used to buy the backpacks.
The McKeesport Community Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation was established in 2017 by PurePenn as part of the company’s commitment to fostering the well-being of the McKeesport area community and giving a portion of revenue back to the community to support revitalization.
Cherepko and his assistant, Jennifer Vertullo, recently went shopping for the backpacks at Walmart in North Versailles Township. When the staff there heard about the goal to give away as many backpacks as possible to MASD students, the store’s managers donated a $300 gift card to help cover the bill, Cherepko said.
Vertullo said about 400 backpacks were given away.
NAACP Unit members, Bethlehem Baptist Church Women’s Ministry members and other volunteers gathered at the Crawford Village recreation center last week to pack around 2,500 totes with hand sanitizer, hand wipes, a face mask, a toothbrush, hand cream and lotion.
Crystal Little was one of the volunteers who helped coordinate the event, collected donations and made donations herself and helped pack and distribute the bags. She said she was proud of her friends and neighbors Saturday as she watched volunteers make their way to the windows of cars pulling in front of the high school and greeting the passengers with a cheerful hello.
Little is the leader of the Bethlehem Baptist Women’s Ministry.
“As leaders in the church, we try to make sure we get involved with the community,” she said. “With us not being in the church building, we try to do what we can outside of the church. This is one way we could give back to the community.”
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